Navajo presidential candidate Begaye to announce running mate today
Russell Begaye at a 2014 Navajo Nation presidential candidates' forum. (Times file photo - Donovan Quintero.)
WINDOW ROCK
Russell Begaye, who had the third highest votes in the Navajo Nation’s primary election and replaced former presidential candidate Chris Deschene, has made plans to announce his running mate today.
After weeks of controversy over whether or not the Navajo language should be a requirement for a presidential candidate, Deschene’s name was taken off the ballot after a Supreme Court ruling.
Begaye will hold a press conference, today at 2 p.m. at the Window Rock Veteran’s Memorial Park in Window Rock, Ariz.
Last Friday, not long after the Navajo Supreme Court ordered Begaye replace Deschene on the ballot, former Navajo presidential candidate Myron McLaughlin, from Chinle, filed a grievance against Begaye with the Office of Hearings and Appeals.
In the 162-page complaint, McLaughlin alleges Begaye violated tribal law when he and other Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Company officials filed a lawsuit in federal court to have a Navajo Nation Supreme Court decision overturned.
OHA has 15 business days to review McLaughlin’s complaint.
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