Navajo hopeful picks new running mate

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A former two-term Navajo president seeking to recapture the office was forced to pick another vice presidential candidate Tuesday after discovering his earlier choice wasn’t eligible because he isn’t registered to vote.

Joe Shirley Jr., who left the presidency in 2011, announced the selection of high school Principal Peter Deswood III as his running mate at a news conference Tuesday in the tribal capital of Window Rock. A banner behind the podium already had their names printed on it.

But as the deadline neared for Shirley to record his choice with the tribe’s election office, officials told the campaign Deswood was listed as an inactive voter. He registered in 2015, but was purged from the voter rolls because he did not cast a ballot in the last two consecutive major elections as required by tribal law, said Murray Lee of the election office. The purge affected more than 55,000 voters, not all of whom re-registered.

Shirley later chose Buu Van Nygren, a 31-year-old operations trainer for a national construction company who is from the Utah portion of the reservation, as his running mate. Nygren has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arizona State University. Nygren said he understands the needs of the youth because he’s a recent college graduate and the needs of the elderly because he grew up without running water or electricity and speaks fluent Navajo.

“My biggest strength is being able to work with people, understand people and go out in the community, being able to communicate with elders and youth,” he said. “My biggest struggle was being a Utah, northern representative.”

Shirley, of Chinle, Ariz., faces current Vice President Jonathan Nez in the Nov. 6 general election. The two beat 16 others in a record field of candidates to win the primary, with Nez getting more than twice as many votes as Shirley.

The reservation is the country’s largest at 27,000 square miles in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. Candidates typically choose a running mate from another state to broaden their voter base.

Nez bucked the tradition in picking Myron Lizer, who oversees Ace Hardware stores on the reservation. Both are from Arizona.