First woman to make it through Navajo Nation’s primary election for president does it again

Navajos narrow field of presidential hopefuls to 2

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The first woman to ever make it through the Navajo Nation’s primary election for president has done it again.

Preliminary results from 106 out of 110 precincts show New Mexico state Sen. Lynda Lovejoy leading the field of a dozen candidates in Tuesday’s primary with 16,449 votes.

Lovejoy will face the tribe’s vice president, Ben Shelly, in the Nov. 2 general election.

Shelly finished second with 7,504 votes. Ballots are being manually counted in four precincts because of a power outage, but election officials say those votes won’t change the top two spots.

Lovejoy fought off traditional assertions during her first run for the office that a woman shouldn’t serve as tribal president. She lost to current Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. in the 2006 general election by about 4,500 votes.

Term limits kept Shirley from making another run at the office.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The first woman to ever make it through the Navajo Nation’s primary election for president has done it again.

Preliminary results from 94 out of 110 precincts show New Mexico state Sen. Lynda Lovejoy leading the field of a dozen candidates in Tuesday’s primary with 15,547 votes. Tribal Vice President Ben Shelly followed with nearly 6,950 votes.

Lovejoy fought off traditional assertions during her first run for the office that a woman shouldn’t serve as tribal president. She lost to current Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. in the 2006 general election by about 4,500 votes.

Shirley had sought re-election to a third term, but the tribe’s elections office disqualified him, citing Navajo law limiting tribal presidents to two consecutive terms. The Navajo Supreme Court upheld that decision earlier this month.