Deschene returns to ballot 12 years after disqualification
Courtesy | Curley Deschene 2026
Christopher Clark Deschene, the running mate selected by presidential candidate Crystalyne Curley, gestures while speaking during a campaign stop at LeChee Chapter.
WINDOW ROCK
Twelve years after a dispute over Diné language fluency ended his presidential campaign, Christopher Deschene returned to a Navajo Nation presidential race Monday when Speaker Crystalyne Curley named him as her running mate for the Nov. 3 general election.
Deschene stood before supporters and listed his credentials as an energy attorney, engineer, business owner and Marine Corps veteran with two tours in the Middle East.
“If there was any question about my qualifications, you just go back and look at my resume,” he said.
The 2014 dispute centered on a provision in Title 11 of the Navajo Nation Code requiring presidential candidates to speak and understand Navajo fluently, along with a sworn statement Deschene signed April 14, 2014, attesting that he met every qualification for the office.
Curley and Deschene will face Justin Jones and Emily Ellison in the Nov. 3 general election. Jones, a Farmington attorney, represented candidate Hank Whitethorne in the challenge that ended Deschene’s 2014 campaign. Jones led the July 21 primary and selected Ellison, another presidential candidate, as his running mate.
To read the full article, please see the July 30, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow