Full Profile · From the Interview Record
Lewnell Harrison
≈ 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 →
Candidate Snapshot
Background & Why They’re Running
Harrison is recently retired. His career began in law enforcement — a police department, briefly the McKinley County Sheriff’s Department — followed by executive security for tribal chairmen, including a stint with the San Carlos Apache Tribe. About 26 years ago he joined the Ethics and Rules Office (his wife submitted the application on his behalf), retiring as an investigator and, for his last five years, as the office’s director. He says he’s running to change, upgrade, and update the Navajo Nation’s laws, policies, and regulations, which he came to know intimately through decades of investigations. He describes himself as not a politician, not the guy that’s “gonna be throwing candy at you at the parades.”
Where Lewnell Harrison 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.
Ethics, Accountability & “Pay to Play”
Cal asked: Cal asked what standard he would use to weigh complaints and problems as a delegate.
Harrison said elected officials are held to a higher standard under the ethics law, and that embezzlement over $1,000 already triggers automatic forfeiture of office. He noted the Ethics and Rules Office is administrative — it can’t jail anyone — and worked with federal and prosecutorial partners. His central pledge is to stop “pay to play” and to attach stipulations to allocated money so it reaches its intended purpose. He argued that when the Nation gives millions to chapters without conditions, the money can be misused.
Local Governance & Title 26
Cal asked: Cal asked him to explain Title 26 and his view of it.
Harrison said Title 26 is the Local Governance Act governing chapters, and that he strongly dislikes how it works after certification: certified chapters hire their own CPAs and legal advisors and stop going through the Auditor General. He described investigating a chapter that misused sales-tax revenue — a case that drew in federal authorities — as an example of why more oversight is needed.
638 Healthcare & Schools — Oversight
Cal asked: Cal asked whether he supports 638 healthcare and schools given the abuse concerns.
Harrison supports 638 as a path toward sovereignty — the Nation running its own schools and healthcare — but insists it must come with regulation and oversight. He said 638 grant schools hire their own CPAs and submit audit reports with almost no one at the education department scrutinizing them, and pointed to distributing ARPA funds before guidelines were established as where problems began. He wants a dedicated oversight or regulatory office “to keep the honest people honest.”
The Contested $24M & a Special Prosecutor
Cal asked: Cal asked about the widely discussed missing funds.
Harrison said that while at Ethics and Rules he initiated the memo requesting a special prosecutor after an investigation his team started grew far larger. He urged patience, saying investigations are slow but that the case was forwarded to those who will prosecute, and that a public investigatory hearing was unlikely to surface anything investigators hadn’t already obtained.
Executive–Legislative Conflict
Cal asked: Cal asked what he would do about the conflict between the branches.
Harrison agreed the current friction is the worst he has seen, but rejected the idea that he would automatically clash with the executive branch. He said he intends to recreate rapport and work together with whoever is elected, and hopes new delegates change the dynamic — “We got to think positive. We got to be positive.”
Veterans & Elderly
Cal asked: Cal asked what he sees as the number-one problem facing veterans and elders.
Harrison named veterans and the elderly as his two priorities he will “always support.” He said the core problem is that veterans aren’t getting the assistance they request — too much red tape — and shared that his father, a veteran, waited some 15 years for promised housing and only received a trailer. He wants an outreach program that brings services to elders and veterans rather than handing them applications, and suggested letting veterans control more of their own funding.
Law Enforcement & Public Safety
Cal asked: Cal asked how he would address the shortage of law enforcement.
Harrison said public safety is priority number one, and that the fix comes down to funding, better training, and retention — supporting the police academy and recruiting officers. He noted the police department’s oversight is the Law and Order Committee (not a board), that a large share of the Nation’s attorneys are now contracted rather than staff, and that weak consequences for drunk driving endanger communities. He’d like to serve on the Law and Order Committee.
Education & Scholarships
Cal asked: Cal asked whether it’s a problem that most scholarships go to off-reservation schools.
Harrison said he does not have a problem with students studying off the reservation or even overseas — he wants to support young people “spreading their wings” and gaining experience — while noting he would look into any imbalance in scholarships going to the two on-reservation colleges.
Enterprises, Ranches & Small Business
Cal asked: Cal asked his philosophy on the ranches and enterprises.
Harrison said the enterprises aren’t generating money and keep returning to Council for funds, and questioned why the Nation is in the ranching business — he supports buying land but doing more productive things with it. His bigger theme: the Navajo Nation is not pro-small-business, with triple taxation and red tape pushing entrepreneurs off the reservation. He wants the business-regulatory office to be able to halt projects that put unqualified people in place.
Economic Development & NBOA
Cal asked: Cal asked what the Navajo Business Opportunity Act is and how economic development is faring.
Harrison called economic development broken and said it must be far more small-business friendly. He criticized the Nation for courting outside interests over Navajo entrepreneurs, citing an award given to an outside businessman shortly before a procurement fiasco and an outside vendor who left with funds. He called the Navajo Business Opportunity Act a “farce” that isn’t being followed and needs to be redone, and said the enterprises should not be on the Navajo source list because it gives them an unfair advantage.
Title 2 & Government Reform
Cal asked: Cal asked how Title 2 and the Office of Government Development fit in.
Harrison said he sat through a government-reform presentation and came away very disappointed, and noted the Office of Government Development has been defunded and revived repeatedly because people question its productivity. On finishing the three-branch structure, he said meaningful change will have to come through a referendum or reform vote.
Topics in the Interview
- Background & Why He’s Running
- Ethics, Accountability & “Pay to Play”
- Local Governance & Title 26
- 638 Healthcare & Schools — Oversight
- The Contested $24M & a Special Prosecutor
- Executive–Legislative Conflict
- Veterans & Elderly
- Law Enforcement & Public Safety
- Education & Scholarships
- Enterprises, Ranches & Small Business
- Economic Development & NBOA
- Title 2 & Government Reform