Andrew Curley — Interview Q&A
≈ 7 min read · or listen, or skim the bold lines
B · From the record Summaries are drawn from Cal Nez’s interview. Quotations are not published until checked against the recording. How we verify →
Answer summaries in the site’s words, drawn from the recorded Cal Nez interview (Politics on the Navajo Nation, 2026) — not quotations and not the candidate’s own wording. Their exact words are in the video, linked from their profile.
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Background & Perspective
Cal asked: Who are you, and what does your degree involve?
Curley is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona with a PhD in development sociology — the study of the structural forces that limit or expand people's opportunities. An “urban Indian” who has lived in Salt Lake, Farmington, and Albuquerque, he stresses that most Navajo members have lived off-reservation since 2000, so policy should welcome those living in border towns.
Top Priority: Land & Grazing Reform
Cal asked: What's the central problem facing the Nation?
Curley's number-one issue is land reform. The century-old grazing-lease system makes all reservation land grazing land by default, so home-site, commercial, or industrial use requires bureaucratic withdrawal — strangling development. He would begin a careful, multi-term re-examination of grazing law to open land while documenting and securing family and traditional lands.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Downsizing the Office of President
Cal asked: What's your second platform item?
Curley would cut the Office of the President and Vice President roughly in half — he argues Office of the President and Vice President (OPVP) has bloated over 20 years with positions that serve the president rather than the people. The president, he says, should run budgets, work with division directors, and prioritize programs instead of creating drama with the Council.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Title 2 & the Executive-Legislative Conflict
Cal asked: How central is Title 2 to the gridlock?
Curley calls the conflict structural, not personal — it recurs under every president and council because of how Title 2 splits power. His fix is an attitude shift (dropping the ego and symbolism of the office, focusing on day-to-day governance), disciplined budget planning to avoid mid-year funding requests, and genuine collaboration with the Council.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
Government Reform & a Navajo Constitution
Cal asked: What would you do about government reform?
Drawing on his time on the Commission on Navajo Government Development, Curley argues the Office of Government Development is hamstrung because entrenched interests control reform. He would elevate the most important laws — the Fundamental Law, Title 2, the Local Governance Act, the judiciary title — to a “constitutional” status amendable only by popular referendum, so the judicial branch can use them as real checks. He is candid about timelines: the constitutional elevation, he says, is “It’s tangible, it’s achievable, and that’s something you can do within four years.” (It is land reform he describes as too big to finish in one term — a president’s job there is to start the process.)
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
The President's Real Job: Managing 80% of Revenues
Cal asked: If the president has no power, why run?
Curley rejects the premise — power is divided, and the president manages roughly 75–80% of tribal revenues, so the real question is who is an effective manager of that money. He says he's not running to be powerful but to improve conditions, prioritizing a cross-division sustainable-development program and empowering the judicial branch through fundamental law.
Not sure how to weigh this answer? The five lenses, in brief ▾
- Transparency & accountability: who is responsible, and how would progress be measured and verified?
- Root cause: does this address the underlying problem, or only the symptom?
- Culture — K’é / Hózhǫ: does it strengthen kinship, restore balance, honor future generations?
- Collaboration: who would need to work together — and does the answer name them?
- Prevention vs. damage control: does it prevent harm, or only respond after it?
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