Full Profile · From the Interview Record
Jordan Begay
B · From the record Summaries are drawn from Cal Nez’s interview. Quotations are not published until checked against the recording. How we verify →
Candidate Snapshot
Background & Why They’re Running
Begay introduced a “First 100 Days Plan,” published on Facebook and Instagram, as the starting point of a Begay administration, and presented himself as position #9 on the ballot.
Where Jordan Begay Stands
Each topic below is drawn from the interview — the question Cal asked, and a short summary of the answer, generated by AI from the interview recording.
Why Leaders Conflict
Cal asked: What's the real foundation of the conflict between every president and council?
Begay named greed over money as the root — competition over the various funding streams (federal funds, tribal revenues, and declining coal / Salt River Project revenue).
Societal Healing
Cal asked: What about the societal challenges our people face?
Begay framed the Nation's struggles — chronic disease, alcoholism, and substance abuse — as a cycle that must be broken, centering people's wellbeing as “five-fingered beings.”
Sovereignty & Self-Determination
Cal asked: Limited sovereignty versus inherent sovereignty — your view?
Begay spoke to self-determination and self-reliance as core Navajo identity (“the rainbow that wraps around us”), framing sovereignty as who the Diné are rather than a status granted from outside.
Federal Advocacy
Cal asked: How does the Navajo government bring its priorities to Washington?
Begay said it takes the President, Council, Executive Directors, Speaker, Chief Justice, and standing committees all advocating together to federal partners to carry Navajo priorities to Washington.
Health Care
Cal asked: What's your feeling on health care?
This is Begay's professional ground — he served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Gallup Indian Medical Center and worked across Eastern Agency, giving him direct hospital-administration experience to draw on.
In Their Own Words
Verbatim from the interview (auto-transcribed; lightly trimmed for length):
“I am born, I am of the deer spring bitterwater clan, born for the towering house people.”
Topics in the Interview
- Platform: First 100 Days
- Why Leaders Conflict
- Societal Healing
- Sovereignty & Self-Determination
- Federal Advocacy
- Health Care