Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. defeated challenger Lynda Lovejoy Tuesday to win a second term.
He garnered 53.5 percent of 65,027 votes cast across the reservation, which stretches from northeastern Arizona to southeastern Utah and northwestern New Mexico.
If she had won, Lovejoy would have been the first woman to hold the presidential post for the Navajo, the largest Indian nation within the United States. As it was, Shirley became the first Navajo president to win re-election, according to spokesman George Hardeen from the nation’s capital in Window Rock, Ariz.
Shirley’s running mate was Ben Shelley. The ticket took an early lead and held it.
“I want to express appreciation to the Creator, to the campaign staff who had worked very hard and very diligently, and to all the voting populace of Navajoland out there,” Shirley said at the Window Rock Civic Center, where votes were counted. “I appreciate their vote of confidence.”
Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or at edraper@denverpost.com.
