Democrat and former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez interviewed with the Clean Elections Commission on Thursday in what had been slated as a debate for candidates of Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.
Incumbent Republican Congressman Eli Crane declined to participate.
Nez attempted to appeal to the center and accused Crane of being part of the dysfunction in Washington. He cited the vote to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post last year.
"Coming to the brink of a government shutdown. And just an extreme group of representatives that are making it very difficult for this Congress to function," Nez said.
If elected, Nez said he would be the first Native American to represent Arizona in Congress.
More election news
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Election officials in Pima County say some county residents will receive their mail-in ballots a few days late this year amid a clerical issue with the county's election department.
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Supporters of the Democratic candidate for Maricopa County recorder are trying to persuade Republicans to vote for him over his GOP opponent, mirroring efforts made by Democrats at the top of the ticket.
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Roughly 40 million eligible voters in the U.S. are disabled, including thousands of Arizonans. That’s according to a new report from Rutgers University. And this population is feeling excluded from the electoral process.
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Vice President Kamala Harris is being attacked for a lot of things these days, but one of them is for changing her accent on the campaign trail. ‘Is it Southern?’ ‘Is it just pandering?’ they ask. Sonja Lanehart, a linguistics professor at the University of Arizona, says no.
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Among the ballot measures voters will decide this fall is Proposition 137, which deals with judicial retention. But critics worry the measure would be bad for the judicial system.