Crane holds narrow lead over Nez as Arizona congressional race remains undecided
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, right, a candidate for
Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, speaks with a voter Tuesday, Nov.
3, in Jeddito, Ariz.
WINDOW ROCK
Republican incumbent Eli Crane led former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez by 966 votes Wednesday afternoon in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District race, a margin narrow enough to trigger an automatic recount if it holds through the official canvass.
Unofficial results posted by the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office at 3:15 p.m. showed Crane with 138,582 votes, or 49.28%, and Nez, a Democrat, with 137,616, or 48.94%. Libertarian Curtis Goodwin had 4,848 votes, or 1.72%.
The lead changed during election night and early Wednesday. An earlier state update showed Nez ahead by 86 votes, 136,344 to 136,258.
Between the two updates, Crane gained 2,324 votes and Nez gained 1,272. Most of those gains came from Yavapai County, where Crane’s total rose from 63,132 in its 4:31 a.m. report to 65,453 at 3:15 p.m. Nez’s total increased from 38,582 to 39,826.
State law requires an automatic recount when the margin between the top two candidates is one-half of 1% or less of the votes cast for both. Based on Wednesday afternoon’s totals, that threshold was about 1,381 votes. Crane’s lead was about 0.35%.
To read the full article, please see the Nov. 5, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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