Vice-President of the Navajo Nation | |
---|---|
since January 10, 2023 | |
Residence | Window Rock, AZ |
Term length | Four years, renewable once |
Constituting instrument | Navajo Nation Code & Treaty of 1868 |
Inaugural holder | Marshall Plummer |
Formation | January 15, 1991 |
Salary | $45,000.00 USD per year |
Website | Vice President |
The office of vice president of the Navajo Nation was created in 1991 following restructuring of the Navajo Nation government. The president and vice president are elected every four years. The Navajo Nation Vice-president shall serve no more than two terms. [1]
In 2010, Ben Shelly became the first vice president to be elected president of the Navajo Nation. [2]
In 2022, Richelle Montoya was the first woman to be elected into the Executive Branch of the Navajo Nation. [3]
No. | Image | Name | Term | Party | Election | President | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marshall Plummer (1948–2010) [4] | January 15, 1991 – January 10, 1995 | Unknown | 1990 | Peterson Zah | |||
2 | Thomas Atcitty (1933–2020) [5] | January 10, 1995 – February 19, 1998 | Democratic | 1994 | Albert Hale | |||
3 | Milton Bluehouse Sr. (1936–2019) [6] | February 19, 1998 – July 24, 1998 | Unknown | – | Thomas Atcitty | |||
Position vacant (July 24–August 1998) | – | Milton Bluehouse Sr. | ||||||
4 | Frank Chee Willeto (1925–2012) [7] | August 1998 – January 12, 1999 | Unknown | |||||
5 | Taylor McKenzie (1931–2007) [8] | January 12, 1999 – January 14, 2003 | Unknown | 1998 | Kelsey Begaye | |||
6 | Frank Dayish (born 1958) | January 14, 2003 – January 9, 2007 | Unknown | 2002 | Joe Shirley Jr. | |||
7 | Ben Shelly (1947–2023) | January 9, 2007 – January 11, 2011 | Democratic | 2006 | ||||
8 | Rex Lee Jim (born 1962) | January 11, 2011 – May 12, 2015 | Unknown | 2010 | Ben Shelly | |||
9 | Jonathan Nez (born 1975) | May 12, 2015 – January 15, 2019 | Democratic | 2014–15 | Russell Begaye | |||
10 | Myron Lizer (born TBA) | January 15, 2019 – January 10, 2023 | Republican | 2018 | Jonathan Nez | |||
11 | Richelle Montoya (born TBA) | January 10, 2023 – present | Unknown | 2022 | Buu Nygren |
The Navajo Nation, also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in Window Rock, Arizona.
Diné College is a public tribal land-grant college based in Tsaile, Arizona, serving the 27,000-square-mile (70,000 km2) Navajo Nation. It offers associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, and academic certificates.
The Navajo Nation Council is the Legislative Branch of the Navajo Nation government. The council meets four times per year, with additional special sessions, at the Navajo Nation Council Chamber, which is in Window Rock, Arizona.
Joe Shirley Jr. is a Navajo politician who is the only two-term President of the Navajo Nation. He served as president from 2003 to 2011. He lives in Chinle, Arizona, and is Tódíchʼíiʼnii, born for Tábąąhá.
Peterson Zah was an American politician who held several offices with the Navajo Nation. From 1983 to 1987, he was chairman of the Navajo Nation, its then head of government. At its 1991 restructuring, he became the first president of the Navajo Nation, until 1995. He then worked at Arizona State University as special adviser to the president on American Indian Affairs from 1995 to 2011 and consulted companies willing to work with his nation.
Kenneth Maryboy is an American politician for San Juan County, Utah, and was Navajo Nation Council Delegate. Kenneth is a former San Juan County Commissioner. Maryboy was the third Democrat in a row to have been elected to the Commissioner District 3 position since its inception in 1984 that divided the county into three districts. Kenneth was replaced on the commission in 2015 by Rebecca M. Benally
Albert A. Hale was an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Arizona Senate from 2004 to 2011 and in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.
Peter MacDonald is a Native American politician and the only four term Chairman of the Navajo Nation. MacDonald was born in Arizona, U.S. and served the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II as a Navajo Code Talker. He was first elected Navajo Tribal Chairman in 1970.
Lynda Morgan Lovejoy is an American politician. She is a former Democratic member of the New Mexico Senate.
The President of the Navajo Nation is the Executive Branch of the Navajo Nation. The office was created in 1991 following restructuring of the national government. The President and Vice President are elected every four years. The Navajo Nation President shall serve no more than two consecutive terms.
The Navajo Nation presidential election of 2010 was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Ben Shelly won the election.
Marshall Paul Plummer was the first Navajo Nation Vice President, serving from 1991 to 1995. He died on March 25, 2010, having been diagnosed with end-stage lung disease. He was mentioned in an article in the Farmington Daily Times.
Ben Shelly was the 7th president of the Navajo Nation. He was the first president to have been elected both president and vice president of the Navajo Nation, as well as the first New Mexican Navajo to hold the Navajo presidency.
Frank Chee Willeto was an American politician and Navajo code talker during World War II. Willeto served as the vice president of the Navajo Nation under President Milton Bluehouse, Sr. from his appointment in August 1998 until January 1999, when the Begaye administration took office.
Russell Begaye is a Navajo politician who served as the 8th president of Navajo Nation from May 2015 to January 2019. He was the second New Mexican Navajo to hold the Navajo Presidency.
Jonathan Nez is a Navajo politician who served as the 9th President of the Navajo Nation from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as Vice President and as a Navajo Nation Council delegate.
The 2022 Navajo Nation presidential election took place on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, to elect the president and vice president of the Navajo Nation. The primary election was held on August 2. Incumbent president Jonathan Nez ran for reelection with attorney Chad Abeyta as his running mate. Incumbent Vice President Myron Lizer did not seek re-election, instead running for U.S. House in Arizona. Nez and Abeyta advanced to the general election, as did the challenging ticket of construction manager Buu Nygren and Torreon/Star Lake Chapter President Richelle Montoya. Nygren and Montoya won the general election by a 6-point margin, and Montoya became the Navajo Nation's first female vice president.
Buu Van Nygren is a Navajo politician currently serving as the 10th President of the Navajo Nation. Nygren-Montoya received 34,890 votes, defeating the Nez-Abeyta campaign who received 31,339 votes in the 2022 election. He was sworn in on January 10, 2023.
Richelle Montoya is an American politician who is the 11th vice president of the Navajo Nation. She is the first woman elected to the executive office of Navajo Nation.