Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley will be the next president of the Navajo Nation.
It's a historic win as Curley will be the first woman elected to lead the largest Indigenous tribe in the U.S.
Unofficial results show Curley and her running mate, Christopher Deschene, received 32,094 votes in Tuesday’s election. They defeated Farmington attorney Justin Jones and his vice presidential pick, Emily Ellison, by approximately 1,115 votes. The results still need to certified by the Navajo Election Administration to be official.
Curley celebrated the historic win during a victory speech in Window Rock Tuesday night. She told the crowd the Navajo Nation is ready to move forward.
“Anything is possible. Our daughters, our granddaughters — anything is possible,” Curley said. “Because this nation is ready to move forward. But it takes a lot of hard work. So again, I love you all. It is time to heal. It is time to get to work. But it also is time to be a family once again.”
Curley and Jones were running to replace incumbent President Buu Nygren, who lost in the July primary.
Curley previously made history as the first woman elected speaker of the Navajo Nation Council during her first term as a delegate.
