Who is Jonathan Nez and Why is He Running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona?

Mary L. Holden
2 min readSep 19, 2024

This is an historic election, my friends!

Jonathan and Phefelia Nez, on a Zoom screen from Arizona’s District 2, today.

As a third generation Arizonan, I love this state with all my heart. As a child, I visited the Navajo Nation with my family and cherish the memory of its landscape and the Navajo people with whom we crossed paths.

In adulthood, I became friends with Johnson Yazzie, a celebrated artist who is a member of the Navajo tribe. When I saw that Jonathan was running for Congress, I reached out to Johnson and asked for more information. Of course, Johnson only had exceptional things to tell me about the Nez family.

This is an historic election. When Jonathan Nez becomes a congressman, he will be the first ever from the Navajo Nation. I am writing this post today in his honor after being on a Zoom meeting with him and his team this afternoon. Right now, he is speaking about how there is a great need to support Mother Earth, a position I personally agree with and know he can take this mission to Congress and represent the people of Arizona well.

Please…pay attention! I am not a Navajo, but I leave you with a beautiful word in this language: Ahéhee’.

It means “thank you.”

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Mary L. Holden

A constantly evaporating editor and writer. Believer in medium since 2013 when they made me wait for an invitation….