Debbie Nez-Manuel Interviewed
B · From the record Summaries are drawn from Cal Nez’s interview. Quotations are not published until checked against the recording. How we verify →
- Office sought
- President, Navajo Nation
- Home chapter
- Klagetoh, AZ area
- Incumbent
- No
- Interview date
- Interview — May 20, 2026
- Interview status
- Interviewed by Cal Nez — Politics on the Navajo Nation (2026)
From the record, in one paragraph:
Their overall approach
Nez-Manuel is a social worker with maternal roots in Klagetoh who grew up in Churchrock — (MSW) and former Navajo Nation division director whose mother was murdered when Debbie was a child — an MMIW loss that shaped a life in kinship and foster care, a path to becoming From their answers →
Summary
A summary in the site’s words, drawn from the candidate’s recorded interview — not a quotation and not the candidate’s own wording. Their exact words are in the interview video.
Debbie Nez-Manuel is a social worker with maternal roots in Klagetoh who grew up in Churchrock — (MSW), former Navajo Nation division director, and longtime advocate, running for Navajo Nation President. Her interview with Cal Nez drew heavily on her lived experience and a detailed record in public safety, social services, and government administration.
Interview Q&A
In the interview, this candidate addressed:
Background & Lived Experience · Public Safety & MMIW · Tribal Employees & Accountability · First 30 Days: Federal Funding · Health Care & the 638 System · Education & Broadband
In their own words: “I stood my ground and said, you know what? I can’t allow this to happen because these are the people’s dollars. These are the people’s resources. And I’m a steward.”
Related issues
Not sure how to weigh what a candidate says? Start with how to evaluate a candidate.
Others running for President
- Donovan Begay
- Jordan Begay Interviewed
- Alexander Chambers
- Tom T. Chee
- Kevin L. Cody
- Andrew Curley Interviewed
- Crystalyne Curley Incumbent
- Frank Dayish Jr.
- Emily Ellison Interviewed
- Justin Jones
- Myron Lizer Interviewed
- Larry Noble Interviewed
- Buu Nygren Incumbent
- Johnny Russell Jr. Interviewed
- Arvin Trujillo Interviewed
Ask this candidate a question
Have a question you’d want Debbie Nez-Manuel to answer — about housing, health care, your chapter, anything? Submit it here. We work to put community questions in front of candidates through follow-up interviews and campaign contacts. How an answer gets published: an answer appears on this profile only when we can confirm it came from the candidate through their own public channel — a broadcast interview, a campaign statement, or an official account — never through contact details supplied in a submission. Answers publish verbatim, in full. Non-response is never noted, because silence is not evidence. Your question is read by a volunteer, published only as part of a question put to a candidate, and never with anything identifying you.
Help improve this profile
Candidates and campaign representatives may submit corrections, biographical information, campaign website and contact details, and photographs they authorize the Diné Civic Center to publish. By submitting materials, you confirm you have the right to share them and grant permission for their use on this site.
Email a correction or addition
Assess this candidate (private)