Navajo Nation President-elect Russell Begaye (left) and Vice President-elect Jonathan Nez (right) will be sworn into office on May 12.
After a nearly five month delay of the election, businessman Russell Begaye was elected president of the Navajo Nation, with District I Navajo County Supervisor Jonathan Nez as his vice president. According to unofficial election results, Begaye drew 10,000 more votes than his counterpart, former president Joe Shirley Jr., with the results showing 15,539 votes for Shirley and 25,745 for Begaye. It was also noted that 37 percent of the 120,600 registered voters went to the polls.
Begaye has served four years on the Navajo Nation Council. In addition to his duties as a county supervisor, Nez serves as a Navajo Nation Council Delegate for the Navajo Mountain, Oljato, Shonto, and Ts’ah Bii Kin communities.
The official transition of power from President Ben Shelly to Begaye will take place on Tuesday, May 12.
