Clara Pratte grew up in a rural town on the eastern edge of the Navajo Nation without running water or electricity in her home. Now she’s asking voters to send her to Phoenix to regulate the utilities that serve millions of Arizonans across the state.
Outside of the Lupton Chapter House that houses the local Navajo Nation government, she reflected on her life and what led her to run for the Arizona Corporation Commission, the often-overlooked five-member agency that regulates utilities, railroads and financial securities in the state.
“I have really a lot of good memories of growing up here, and you know, spending time with my grandma here because she used to bring us to the chapter meetings, and maybe that's where I got interested in local governance,” Pratte said of the Chapter House, which also hosts community gatherings like bingo and local celebrations, including Pratte’s own college graduation party.
From Lupton to Washington
The Lupton Chapter House is located just north of Interstate 40.
Pratte grew up on the other side of the highway, an area she says lacked access to basic services like water and electric connections until recently. She says those experiences motivated her to get involved in the Corporation Commission race.
“Because growing up without it, you really recognize how hard it is and especially for elders, children, people with medical issues,” she said.
Pratte’s mother, Lori Bennett, says she never expected her daughter to get into politics, but there were signs early on.
At just 6 or 7 years old, she would read the newspaper. Her favorite sections were politics and news.
Bennett says she didn’t finish high school but always encouraged Pratte to take her education seriously.
“When she got to school, I always tell her, ‘You go to school, because I never finished mine. Go to school, study hard. Someday, you're going to be somebody,’” Bennett said. “And she always remembers that. You know, she just said, ‘OK, this is what you meant, Mom.’”
After going to college in Tucson and Pittsburgh, Pratte moved to Washington, D.C., and worked in a variety of jobs, including leading the Navajo Nation’s office there. She also chaired the Democratic National Committee’s Native Caucus with former President Joe Biden’s campaign and administration.
Back in Arizona
Pratte, who now runs a consulting firm, eventually moved back to Arizona and co-founded Navajo Power, which partners with tribal communities to build renewable energy projects.
Now, she wants to take all those experiences to the Corporation Commission, which regulates most of the state’s utility companies. She’s running alongside fellow Democrat Jonathan Hill, a scientist at ASU’s Mars Space Flight Facility, in an attempt to flip two seats on the all-Republican commission.
Pratte says the issues she’s focused on aren’t isolated to communities like Lupton.
“That really motivated me to be in public service, and particularly for this office — not just for rural communities, but all across the state. Not just tribal communities, but across the state — you have a lack of access to affordable electricity, clean water,” she said.
Pratte notes the Corporation Commission doesn’t have regulatory authority over tribal utilities. But she said commissioners themselves can still use their positions to draw attention to issues facing those communities.
And there are plenty of powers the commission does have that affect both tribes and other rural areas.
For instance, nearby Sanders, where she went to elementary school, was plagued in recent years by a utility delivering uranium-contaminated water.
Pratte says there are a myriad of small water utilities that serve rural communities all over the state. And many are now seeking big rate hikes from the commission to pay for much-needed repairs and upgrades that have been neglected for decades.
Earlier this year, the Corporation Commission approved rate hikes for the Robson Ranch community near Eloy after foreign investors bought their local water utility from a developer who hadn’t sought a rate increase in decades.
In another case in 2024, the commission found the Salome Water Company, which had its permit to operate revoked four times, was in financial disarray that threatened services for the rural residents relying on the company.
“I've talked to customers all over the state that have seen massive increases in their water bills, in some cases 300% over the last year, and that's just not sustainable, and it's really not fair to pass off the poor planning onto the consumers,” Pratte said.
She’s also a staunch supporter of renewable energy like wind and solar power, arguing they now provide the most-cost effective and clean options to bring power to all Arizonans, especially those in underserved communities.
“And I'm not saying you get rid of all the other older technologies,” Pratte said. “What I'm saying is, we should be using cleanest and cheapest first, and then we can backfill as needed. And that would make sense if you were running your own household.”
She acknowledged that the issue is a dicey one on the Navajo Nation, which for years had an economy that was heavily reliant on the coal industry, like the Navajo Generating Station that provided hundreds of jobs before it closed in 2019.
“At the same time, the ecological and the human health costs that has been borne by the people living in this land — it's like something's, it's not sustainable, right?” Pratte said.
Back at the Chapter House, Lupton Chapter President Sherman Yazzie, who grew up down the road from Pratte, said she will bring a much-needed voice to the commission.
“It would be pushing somebody that's actually experienced growing up and where the needs are actually on these communities and rural areas because we are basically all forgotten, especially across the Navajo Nation, the 110 chapters,” he said.
Pratte is facing an uphill battle.
Arizona voters have only elected four Democrats to the commission in the past three decades.
And, if elected, Pratte would be the first Native candidate elected to the job — or any other statewide office — in Arizona history.
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