Nez-Manuel puts ethics, management reform at center of presidential bid
Navajo Times | Krista Allen
Debbie Nez-Manuel
GALLUP
Debbie Nez-Manuel has made ethics and management reform central to her campaign for Navajo Nation president, tying both to proposals on water, veterans, education and public spending.
Asked during a June candidate forum in Gallup how she would protect Diné sacred medicine from outside pharmaceutical interests, Nez-Manuel described limits she would place on herself as president.
“I will not accept money. I will not accept trips. I will not accept vehicles,” she said.
Nez-Manuel, of Klagetoh, Arizona, is one of 16 candidates running in the July 21 primary and one of three women seeking to become the first woman to serve as Navajo Nation president.
A social worker by training, Nez-Manuel said she spent about three decades working in Maricopa County. She has connected the instability of her childhood in foster care to her commitment to public service.
To read the full article, please see the July 16, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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