Navajo Nation's First Woman President-Elect, Crystalyne Curley, Waits Out a Recount With History in Reach

The Navajo Nation is one step from a milestone more than a century in the making. Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley and her running mate, Chris Deschene, won the Nov. 3 race for president and vice president, the Navajo Times reported ^[1], and if the result holds, Curley will become the first woman ever elected to lead the Navajo Nation, the Associated Press reported ^[2].

The finish line is not quite crossed. Her opponent, Justin Jones, has formally requested a recount with Curley holding a 1,115-vote lead, the Navajo Times reported this week ^[3]. Until that process runs its course, the historic win remains unofficial.

The AP reported that unofficial results put the Curley-Deschene ticket ahead by just over 1,100 votes, and that Jones announced plans to challenge the count ^[4]. Outgoing President Buu Nygren congratulated Curley on social media, according to the AP ^[2].

A recount in a race this close is not a cloud over the outcome. It is how a self-governing people makes sure every ballot was counted correctly, and the same right belongs to any candidate on the losing end of a narrow vote. Whatever the recount shows, the Nation's own election officials will have the final word, as they should under tribal sovereignty.

Curley has been candid about what the campaign was like. She told the AP that she faced sexist rhetoric on the trail and expects to be held to a higher standard as the first woman to hold the office ^[2]. She did not ask for special treatment. She asked to be judged on the work.

Who She Is

Curley is no newcomer to firsts. In 2023 she became the first woman elected speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, the tribe's legislative branch, NPR reported at the time ^[5]. She takes the presidency with years of experience running the council and dealing with the Nation's toughest problems.

Her campaign platform reads like a list of the issues families on the reservation live with every day. In an interview before the election, she said her priorities include strengthening tribal sovereignty, building infrastructure and fighting corruption, according to Arizona's Family ^[6]. She also pointed to the transport of uranium across Navajo land, mineral rights and water agreements, and investing directly in Navajo families ^[6].

Those are not abstractions. Clean water, safe roads and protection from the toxic legacy of uranium mining are the kinds of basic needs many Americans take for granted. A leader who promises to put families first and to root out corruption is making a promise that should resonate far beyond the Four Corners.

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Part of a Historic Season for Native Women

Curley's win led an AP roundup of the history Native American women made across the country this month ^[4]. The Seneca Nation of Indians in western New York elected its first woman president, longtime council member Tina Abrams, the AP reported ^[4]. In New Mexico, Deb Haaland was elected the first Native woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state, and in Minnesota, Peggy Flanagan became the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate ^[4].

Those are different leaders with different politics. What they share is a story that runs through families, communities and generations of tribal women who served long before anyone wrote headlines about them. Arriving during Native American Heritage Month, the moment is worth honoring on its own terms.

What Comes Next

The recount Jones requested now has to be carried out and its results certified by the Navajo Nation's election officials ^[3]. If Curley's lead holds, she and Deschene are set to take office in January, the AP reported ^[2].

For the Navajo Nation, the work starts the day after the swearing-in: water lines to build, uranium sites to clean up, roads to pave and families to serve. For the rest of the country, the lesson is a simple and good one. Self-government, close elections settled by the rules, and a leader who earned her place step by step are things every American can be proud to see.