Thinning the ranks

A total of 146 men and women have filed to run for the 24 seats in the next Navajo Nation Council.

Among them are 56 of the current 88 members of the council, according to the Navajo Election Administration.

Among the 22 who are not running for re-election are some familiar names: Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale), former speaker Nelson Gorman Jr. of Chinle, longtime Fort Defiance delegate Larry Anderson, and Ervin Keeswood Sr. of Tsé Daa K'aan Chapter.

Several of the new seats have between eight and 10 candidates in competition for the one spot, including incumbents from what were previously different districts. The top two vote getters in each race will face each other in November.

Assuming that no one files in the next 10 days as a write-in candidate, four candidates won't have to worry about making it through the primary because there are only two people running in these races.

Incumbent Harry Claw will face Leonard H. Pete in the general election to represent Chinle.

Johnny Naize, who represents Tsélani-Cottonwood and Nazlini on the current council, will face Roland Tso in the new Low Mountain/Tachee/Blue Gap/Nazlini/Cottonwood/Many Farms district.

Many current members of the council will be fighting each other to make it to the general election.

For example, in Shiprock, incumbents Leonard Anthony and Pete Ken Atcitty are competing, along with Russell Lewis, Russell Begaye and Virgil L. Kirk Jr., for the two spots on the November ballot.

George Arthur and LoRenzo Bates, another pair of high-profile delegates in the current council, are facing off against each other and three others - Hearther L. Anderson, Rickie Nez and Tony Silentman - for a chance to represent the new district of Nenahnezad/Newcomb/San Juan/T'iistoh Sikaad/Tsé Daa K'aan/Upper Fruitland.

And in at least one district, rivals in former elections are again in competition. For instance, former delegate LaVern Wagner, who lost a bitterly contested race to Leonard Tsosie in 2006, is running for the seat that combines their old district, Pueblo Pintado/Torreon/Whitehorse Lake, with Baca-Prewitt, Casamero Lake, Counselor, Littlewater and Ojo Encino chapters. Also running are incumbents Hoskie Kee, David B. Rico and Harry J. Willeto, and Ken Peterson.

In most of the races where there are current delegates in the mix, there are only two incumbents in the race, making it possible for both to make it through to the general election. Incumbency is usually an advantage, but this year it's debatable whether the same voters who overwhelmingly supported reducing the council will turn around and put current delegates in the new council.

There are 10 races where more than two current delegates are running.

Fort Defiance, which previously had three delegates, is now combined with the Crystal/Red Lake/Sawmill district, and three incumbents are competing for that seat - Elmer Milford from Fort Defiance, and both delegates from the other district, Ralph Bennett Jr. and Roscoe D. Smith. There are seven other people in that race, making it one of the two most crowded fields of any new district. Among the other candidates is Genevieve Jackson, a former member of the council.

There are also 10 candidates vying to represent the district comprised of Beclabito, Cove, Gadii'ahi, Red Valley, Sheepsprings, Toadlena-Two Grey Hills and Tsé Alnoazt'i'í chapters, including current delegates Phillip Harrison Jr. and Edward V. Jim Sr.

In Tuba City, three of the four current delegates - Hope MacDonald LoneTree, Raymond Maxx and Bobby Robbins Sr., are fighting for the two spots in the general election, along with Joshua Lavar Butler, who has been public information officer for the Navajo Nation Council for the past two years.

There is even a former president in the race. Milton Bluehouse Sr., who served as president for almost two years after Thomas Atcitty was removed, is running as a candidate in the Cornfields/Ganado/Jeddito/Kinlichee/Steamboat district.

Assuming no one files as a write-in candidate in the next few days or after the primary, there are some non-council races that have already been determined because only one person filed for the office.

For the Navajo Nation Board of Education, Rose Yazzie in the Western Agency, Katherine Arviso in Fort Defiance and Jimmie C. Begay in the Chinle Agency are running unopposed.

Unopposed candidates for the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors are Lenora Johnson in the Fort Defiance Agency, Normal L. Begay in the Chinle, Michael Coan in Eastern Navajo and Ruth Watson in the Western Agency.

In the Northern Navajo Agency, however, there are three candidates for the NBOES seat and five people running for the education board.

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