Jones, Curley advance to Nov. 3 after Navajo primary certification

Posted by Donovan Quintero | Aug 29, 2026 | News |

WINDOW ROCK

The Navajo Board of Election Supervisors has certified the results of the July 21 primary, setting up a Nov. 3 general election between Justin Jones and Crystalyne Curley for Navajo Nation president.

The board voted 6-0 Aug. 13 to canvass the results. Vice Chairperson Darlene Pete signed the resolution.

Jones finished first with 15,098 votes, or 30.94%. Curley finished second with 8,670 votes, or 17.77%.

Jones, reached Friday in Tuba City, where he and vice presidential running mate Emily Ellison held a campaign rally at the Tuba City Chapter House, said he was satisfied with the board’s action.

“They are certainly carrying out their statutory responsibilities to do such, and we are certainly looking forward to proceeding with the rest of the campaign leading up to November the third,” he said.

The Navajo Times reached out to Jared Touchin with the Curley campaign for comment. He did not respond.

Incumbent President Buu Nygren placed third with 7,430 votes, about 1,240 behind Curley, and was eliminated. He did not win any of the Nation’s five agencies.

Of the 142,912 registered voters, 49,274 cast ballots, a turnout of 34.48%. Fort Defiance Agency had the highest turnout at 36.47%. Eastern Navajo Agency had the lowest at 31.43%.

Jones and Curley together received 23,768 votes, less than half of the 48,791 presidential votes counted. The other 25,023 votes, or 51.3%, went to the 14 candidates who did not advance.

The largest of those blocs belonged to Nygren, followed by Tom Chee with 4,207 votes, Andrew Curley with 3,354 and former Vice President Myron Lizer with 2,685.

Jones said the campaign has been well received in communities he did not visit during the primary and that voters keep raising the same concerns.

“People are pretty much basically saying the same thing. We need change,” he said. “We need accountability. We’re tired of corruption.”

Jones won all five agencies and finished first in 92 of the Nation’s 110 chapters.

Curley, whose vice-presidential running mate is Chris Deschene, finished second in Chinle, Eastern Navajo and Fort Defiance agencies. Her strongest area was Fort Defiance Agency, where she won the Fort Defiance and St. Michaels chapters, two of the largest polling places in the Nation.She finished third in Western Navajo Agency and fourth in Northern Agency, behind Nygren and Chee.

Ellison was one of the 16 candidates on the primary ballot for president. She finished 13th with 399 votes, or 0.82%.

The board also certified results for the Navajo Nation Council, the Board of Election Supervisors, the Board of Education and the Naschitti Chapter commission.

The certified results show 483 fewer presidential votes counted than total ballots cast. The resolution does not explain the difference.

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