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Among the election races that we're watching is the one for president of the Navajo Nation. The tribe counts nearly half a million enrolled members, and this year's election is unusual. It's the first in recent memory without a candidate who supports the coal industry. Coal has been the tribe's economic bedrock for generations. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO, BYLINE: Sitting President Buu Nygren was a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention. But when it comes to coal, he aligns with President Trump, who's reversing his predecessor's efforts to phase out use of the fossil fuel. During an annual address in January, Nygren promised to keep the last remaining coal mine on the reservation open and support the sole power plant it fuels.
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BUU NYGREN: Because those are hundreds and hundreds of jobs. Those are millions and millions of dollars of revenue that the Navajo Nation receives.
PIETRORAZIO: And he pointed out that a lot of people on the reservation still rely on coal to heat homes located far from conventional energy grids.
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NYGREN: That's coal that some of you haul and get for free from some of our chapters and...
PIETRORAZIO: But voters rejected Nygren. He and 13 other candidates didn't get past the primary. Justin Jones did.
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JUSTIN JONES: I'm opposed to coal mining.
PIETRORAZIO: Jones is an attorney and an ex-liaison for a coal mine in New Mexico.
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JONES: I'm opposed to any form of mining that's where a shovel will go, blast it and get resources out.
PIETRORAZIO: Jones' opponent is Crystalyne Curley, who is currently speaker of the Navajo Nation Council.
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CRYSTALYNE CURLEY: Coal is dying. It's not coming back. So you do need an administration that will say, this is the new plan to move forward.
PIETRORAZIO: President Nygren did the opposite, taking a selfie with President Trump last year at the White House when Trump signed an executive order aimed at saving the, quote, "beautiful, clean coal industry." That really hurt Nygren's reelection chances, says Andrew Curley, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona, who wrote a book on Navajo energy industry politics. He's not related to Crystalyne Curley but has campaigned on her behalf.
ANDREW CURLEY: Based on my conversations with voters, people were upset. It kind of reflected a politics I think a lot of people on the reservation reject and is unattuned to the real struggles, real challenges for the coal economy.
PIETRORAZIO: Curley himself was a candidate for Navajo president this cycle but didn't advance beyond the primary. In his eyes, it's significant that candidates no longer feel like they need to embrace the coal industry.
A CURLEY: And I think that's good. I think it's good that both sides are kind of moving in this direction to think about the land in terms of sustainability, not just resources and extraction.
PIETRORAZIO: Forty-four-year-old Dailin Long lives on the reservation, near the last remaining coal mine. The Trump administration recently approved it for expansion. In the past, he's voted for President Nygren, but now he's glad Nygren is no longer on the ballot.
DAILIN LONG: Our hope was that he would establish a legacy that speaks to our generation, and it seems that, unfortunately, he kind of just blended in with the status quo.
PIETRORAZIO: Long's family could be displaced by the coal mine. After listening to what the remaining candidates have to say about coal, he just hopes it's not campaign rhetoric yet again.
LONG: I really do hope they take it to heart and really consider we need an energy policy that works for us.
PIETRORAZIO: For now, the Navajo Nation owns and continues to operate a major coal mining company, with mines in New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana.
For NPR News I'm Gabriel Pietrorazio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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