Shirley versus Lovejoy
Incumbent, woman dominate primary

LeNora Johnson, who is running for Ft. Defiance Navajo Nation Board of Education supervisor, points out where she is on the ballot to Emerson Peterson and Sharon Cornfield. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By Natasha Kaye Johnson
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Surprise, surprise.

Despite what some political analysts predicted, Navajo Nation presidential candidate Lynda Lovejoy has advanced to November's general election and will be going up against incumbent Joe Shirley Jr. for the top seat.

Lovejoy brought in an unofficial count of 10,337 votes, just behind Joe Shirley, Jr. who unofficially brought in 12,894 votes. Coming in third was vice-president Frank Dayish, Jr. with 7,976 votes, and then Ernest Harry Begay with 7,744 votes.

Lovejoy's percentage of votes was 22.37, and Shirley's was 27.9.

While Lovejoy's advancement into the general election may have been a shocker to some, it wasn't much of a surprise to Lovejoy herself.

"I'm not surprised because this is what the people wanted," she said just after last unofficial votes were tallied. "They wanted a change."

Although Shirley will advance to the general election, Lovejoy kept Shirley's camp on the tips of its toes.

"I feel good," said Shirley as the last of the unofficial votes sifted in.

As for the advancement of both himself and Lovejoy, Shirley stated, "I don't think anyone could have predicted it."

Many of Lovejoy's supporters showed up at the Window Rock Sports Center, where the votes came in from chapter houses by telephone. Throughout the counting, applause and cheers erupted whenever votes were for Lovejoy were read aloud. Just as strongly from the opposite of the room, shouts and cheers erupted when votes were counted for Shirley as well.

Though it seemed Lovejoy was on the verge of passing Shirley, his supporters remained cheerful and positive throughout the tally counts.

Throughout the night, Shirley remained in first place, with Lovejoy, Begay, and Dayish following close behind; however, when Eastern Agency chapter house votes came in, the numbers became more favorable for Lovejoy who sat comfortably in second place. Both Begay and Dayish switched back and forth for third place throughout the night.

The number of Lovejoy supporters and votes that came in for her caught some tribal officials off guard.

"It was a surprise to me," said Edison J. Wauneka, Executive Director for the Navajo Nation Election Office. "That just shows to us that the voting trend is changing."

Another surprise was the amount of votes that Lovejoy received in Arizona, especially in more rural areas. Some critics claimed that Lovejoy did not have a chance with the elderly votes, particularly those elders living in "more traditional" areas of the Nation.

As the night wound down, both Lovejoy and Shirley supporters chanted words of support and denigration toward one another. When Shirley's supporters screamed "four more years," Lovejoy's supporters quickly responded back with "four more months."

The close numbers between the two candidates kept those at the sports center in constant suspense, especially since Shirley was expected to win by a wide margin. Wauneka, on the other hand, thought that the votes for the two primary candidates would be much closer, though he did not predict Lovejoy to be right behind Shirley.

While the election office was hoping for a high turnout, only about 48.6% of registered voters came out for the primary election.

"I'm a little disappointed because I was shooting for 70%," said Wauneka.

Still, Wauneka said they are hopeful that the numbers for voter turnout will be in the 60 to 70 percentile for the general election.

Wauneka said that if Lovejoy does get elected in as president, it will surely prove that things have changed.

"This is history," said Wauneka, referring to Lovejoy advancing to the general elections.

Shirley's financial advisor, Gloria Bowman, stated that about $20,000 has been spent on campaigning thus far, but expects that number to go up this week after adding in radio time costs. Lovejoy stated that about $30,000 has been spent on campaigning so far.

A meeting by the Board of Elections on Thursday will determine if the official count will be pushed back until the 11th, since absentee ballots are still coming in to the office.

As of press time, the chapter house in Cove, Ariz., had yet to call in its votes and was the only chapter whose votes were not included in the unofficial count.