Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez will again run for Congress in Arizona’s Second Congressional district in 2026.
The Democrat’s campaign made the announcement Tuesday that he would take on Republican Rep. Eli Crane for a second time in the district that includes Flagstaff, Prescott and much of the Navajo Nation.
“As Navajo Nation President, I worked across the aisle to deliver water security and lower prices for Northern Arizona, and that’s the kind of leadership we need in Congress,” said Nez. “I am a fighter, and now more than ever we need someone to warrior up and fight for Arizona. The only thing Crane has fought for since taking office is taking money from our hardworking families to give to billionaires. Mr. Crane has betrayed us.”
According to Nez, the district will be disproportionately harmed by Crane’s support of cuts to Medicaid, hospitals and public media, including two tribal radio stations.
“Eli Crane voted to gut Arizonans’ health care and take food off our tables—all to pay for tax cuts for billionaires,” said Nez. “Nearly 1 in 3 people in our district depend on Medicaid, or AHCCCS as it’s called in Arizona. Thousands are going to lose their health coverage and hospitals across our region—in Page, Winslow, and Globe—could be forced to shut down. Crane’s priorities might go over well in the wealthy suburbs where he is from, but not in rural Arizona.”
If elected, Nez would be Arizona’s first Indigenous member of Congress. He grew up in the Shonto community on his family ranch with no electricity or running water. He served as the Navajo Nation’s ninth president from 2019 to 2023.
Fourteen tribes call Arizona’s Second Congressional District home and nearly 20% of its residents are Native American.
Second-term Republican Crane beat Nez by nearly 10% in last year’s general election. The congressman’s campaign said he welcomes a rematch.
“The Democratic Party has no leader, no message, no policy agenda, and no candidates,” said Crane in an emailed statement. “They’ve resigned themselves to the same old, tired talking points being spewed by the same old extreme liberals. They have hit rock bottom, which is exactly where they found Jonathan Nez—still licking his wounds after learning the hard way rural Arizona does not want to be represented by a never-Trump radical.”