Chris Deschene returns to presidential race as Curley’s running mate
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Speaker Crystalyne Curley, left, poses with her running mate, Christopher C. Deschene of LeChee, Ariz., an attorney, engineer, private business owner and U.S. Marine Corps veteran. Deschene is Tódích’íi’nii, born for Deeshchíí’nii. His maternal grandfather is Nóóda’í Táchii’nii and his paternal grandfather is Tábąąhá.
WINDOW ROCK
Presidential candidate Crystalyne Curley on Monday named Christopher Clark Deschene as her running mate for the Nov. 3 Navajo Nation general election, adding to her ticket a former presidential candidate removed from the 2014 ballot in a Navajo language fluency dispute that delayed the election until April 2015.
After Curley introduced him, Deschene reflected on the path that brought him back to the campaign trail.
“So for me, it’s been a long journey,” he said. “Twelve years has gone by.”
Before revealing her choice, Curley explained why she selected Deschene.
“You just don’t pick anyone off the street,” she told supporters. “That is where you know you align yourself with someone that you have known, that you know their characteristic, you know their leadership, you know their experience.”
Deschene then addressed questions about his qualifications.
“I’m an attorney. I am an engineer. I’m also a private business owner. I’m a veteran of the United States Marine Corps,” he said. “If there was any question about my qualifications, you just go back and look at my resume.”
Deschene served as an infantry and reconnaissance officer and completed two tours in the Persian Gulf, first with an infantry unit and then with a reconnaissance unit. In 1998, while serving as a captain, he was executive officer of a reconnaissance company with more than 160 Marines. He attained the rank of major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Deschene joined the Obama Administration in May 2015 as director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs.
He finished second in the 2014 presidential primary with 9,831 votes. Two eliminated candidates, Dale E. Tsosie of LeChee, Arizona, and Hank Whitethorne of Shonto, Arizona, challenged his candidacy, alleging he falsely certified on his filing paperwork that he spoke Navajo fluently.
After hearing arguments in Tuba City Sept. 26, 2014, the Navajo Nation Supreme Court ruled that the fluency requirement was a reasonable regulation grounded in Diné bi Beenahaz’áanii. The Office of Hearings and Appeals disqualified Deschene Oct. 9 after he refused to answer questions in Navajo during a hearing on his fluency.
Nine members of the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors were later removed after the board was found in contempt for refusing to reprint ballots without Deschene’s name. The presidential election was postponed until April 21, 2015.
Navajo voters approved a referendum in July 2015 by a vote of 13,017 to 11,778, according to unofficial results from the Navajo Election Administration. The measure retained the fluency requirement but left it to voters to determine whether a candidate met it. Deschene now returns to the ballot under the rule adopted after his disqualification.
Deschene later told supporters, “We’re going to protect our Nation in terms of our culture, our way of life. That is without question. That is fundamental to who we are.”
The primary results are expected to be certified during an Aug. 13 regular meeting of the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors, according to Navajo Nation Election Administration interim Executive Director Veronica Curley.
Curley finished second in the July 21 primary with 8,546 votes, or 17.64%, behind Justin Jones, who led the 16-candidate field with 15,039 votes, or 31.04%. Incumbent President Buu Nygren finished third and did not advance to the general election.
“I know what it means to be an underdog,” Deschene said.
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