Full Profile · From the Interview Record
Richelle Montoya
≈ 6 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
Montoya is the sitting Vice President of the Navajo Nation (about three and a half years in office), now seeking a Council Delegate seat for six Eastern Navajo chapters. She is from Torreon/Star Lake, was raised in a traditional home and then in a more modern setting after her parents separated, and grew up for a time without electricity or running water. Her path to leadership ran through school board, chapter vice president, and chapter president. She says a council seat would let her work more directly for her chapters and finish work she feels she started.
Where Richelle Montoya 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.
Top Priority — Chapter Projects & Project Managers
Cal asked: Cal asked her to lay out her platform priorities.
Her top priority is completing stalled chapter projects — senior centers, Head Start, HVAC, bathroom, electrical and plumbing upgrades, and roads. She traces the bottleneck to the Division of Community Development not having enough project managers, so the few available get pulled from one community to another. She wants to train chapter community coordinators as project managers and pilot a dedicated project manager for her six-chapter region, then evaluate the results.
The Checkerboard Area & Roads
Cal asked: Cal asked about the unique conditions of her region.
Montoya described her region as “checkerboard” — Navajo Nation, state, county, federal, and private land interwoven — which complicates roads and services. She wants to work with the counties, the State of New Mexico, and private landowners to improve roads and communities across those overlapping jurisdictions.
Her Term as Vice President & Strengthening the Office
Cal asked: Cal asked about her experience in the executive branch and its lessons.
Montoya described a difficult, adversarial relationship with the administration during her term — being left out of decisions and having support and resources withdrawn — so that much of her work had to happen one-on-one with employees behind the scenes. Her governance takeaway: the codes barely define the Vice President’s role (she noted, for example, that nothing specifies who signs the VP’s travel documents), and as a legislator she would write policy to clarify and strengthen the office so the same problems don’t recur.
Executive–Legislative Conflict
Cal asked: Cal asked how she would address the conflict between the branches.
She noted the Vice President was never included in the three-branch-chief conversations, and said that from the legislative side she would push for policies that give the VP a defined role. More broadly she stressed teamwork across all three branches and urged voters to weigh how presidential and delegate candidates answer on collaboration, since that selection is crucial to reducing conflict.
Title 2 & Government Reform
Cal asked: Cal asked what Title 2 means to her and how much it drives the conflict.
Montoya described the titles as a “guide” written in a very different era that now needs updating, and said the Nation has effectively run on a temporary government since the Council gained the power to remove a president. She does not support returning to a chairmanship but feels strongly that local governance is a must. She found the current government-reform document too closely modeled on the U.S. government, and said real reform requires broad discussion — scholars, traditionalists, and elders — with a neutral recorder capturing it.
Healthcare — IHS, 638 & Coverage
Cal asked: Cal asked her to explain IHS, 638, and self-governance, and her stance on coverage.
She explained IHS as a federal treaty obligation and 638/self-governance as tribes operating their own facilities (citing Tohajiilee and Kayenta), and insisted, of the United States and that obligation, “We cannot let them off the hook”. She said the Nation can’t transition fully to 638 right now — it depends on leadership — and that 638 facilities reporting only once a year isn’t enough. She strongly supports nationwide coverage for all Navajo, wherever they live, and said she would fight for it, having already advocated for urban health.
Education & Navajo Language
Cal asked: Cal asked her position on education and on scholarships going off-reservation.
Montoya wants to strengthen the Department of Diné Education and would make policy that Navajo language and culture is taught in every school on the Nation — building on the executive order making Navajo the official language — while working with border-state schools too. On scholarships going off-reservation, she said she won’t try to stop students from choosing where to study and believes many return to serve their communities.
Worker Protections
Cal asked: Cal’s discussion turned to protections for Navajo Nation employees.
Montoya said that as a legislator she would push to enforce and strengthen policies on sexual harassment and assault for Navajo Nation employees, and to protect LGBTQIA+ employees and families who she said can be fearful of retaliation.
Economic Development & NBOA
Cal asked: Cal asked what the Navajo Business Opportunity Act is and how she would vet contracts.
On the Navajo Business Opportunity Act, Montoya was candid that she didn’t have the specifics in front of her, describing it generally as the business-regulatory source-list and priority process for Navajo business owners. To vet contracts and avoid failures like the contested missing funds — where she noted steps were overlooked — she said she would build a written rubric (drawing on her experience developing judging rubrics) informed by conversations with Navajo business owners about what they need, such as truck stops and EV charging along the corridor through her chapters.
Self-Assessment
Cal asked: Cal asked her to grade her tenure as Vice President.
Asked to grade herself, Montoya gave an “A for effort” and for love of the work, but marked herself lower — a C or D — on how much she was actually able to accomplish and how many people she reached, given the obstacles she faced. She emphasized prayer, listening to constituents, and kindness (“be kind or be quiet”) as guiding her leadership.
Topics in the Interview
- Background & Why She’s Running
- Top Priority — Chapter Projects & Project Managers
- The Checkerboard Area & Roads
- Her Term as Vice President & Strengthening the Office
- Executive–Legislative Conflict
- Title 2 & Government Reform
- Healthcare — IHS, 638 & Coverage
- Education & Navajo Language
- Worker Protections
- Economic Development & NBOA
- Self-Assessment