# Coal loses grip on Navajo Nation election

> For the first time in decades, neither major candidate for Navajo Nation president backs the coal industry that has long defined the tribe's economy.
- Title: Coal loses grip on Navajo Nation election · NPR | Shortify
- Summary: For the first time in decades, neither major candidate for Navajo Nation president backs the coal industry that has long defined the tribe's economy. Navajo…
- Keywords: navajo nation, presidential election, coal industry, buu nygren, justin jones, crystalyne curley, energy policy, politics, news, Coal, loses, grip
- Source: NPR — https://npr.org/2026/11/02/nx-s1-6019547/coal-no-longer-king-in-navajo-nation-presidential-election
- Published: 2026-11-02T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: navajo nation, presidential election, coal industry, buu nygren, justin jones, crystalyne curley, energy policy, politics, news
## Coal's grip on Navajo politics weakens
For the first time in recent memory, no pro-coal candidate is running for Navajo Nation president. Coal has been the tribe's economic bedrock for generations, but voter sentiment is shifting.
## Sitting president backed coal and Trump
President Buu Nygren promised to keep the last remaining coal mine open and support the power plant it fuels.

> Because those are hundreds and hundreds of jobs. Those are millions and millions of dollars of revenue that the Navajo Nation receives.
## Voters rejected Nygren in the primary
Sitting President Buu Nygren and thirteen other candidates did not advance past the primary. Voters chose two candidates who oppose coal mining instead.
## Justin Jones opposes all mining
Justin Jones, an attorney and former liaison for a coal mine in New Mexico, advanced to the general election. He is opposed to coal mining and any form of mining involving extraction.

> I'm opposed to any form of mining that's where a shovel will go, blast it and get resources out.
## Curley says coal is dying
Crystalyne Curley, speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, is Jones's opponent. She argues the tribe needs an administration with a new plan to move forward beyond coal.

> Coal is dying. It's not coming back. So you do need an administration that will say, this is the new plan to move forward.
## Voters upset with Trump connection
Andrew Curley, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona who wrote a book on Navajo energy politics, says voters were upset by Nygren's alignment with Trump.
## Voter near mine hopes for real change
Dailin Long, forty-four, lives near the last remaining coal mine and previously voted for Nygren. He hopes the remaining candidates will follow through on energy policy rather than campaign rhetoric.

> I really do hope they take it to heart and really consider we need an energy policy that works for us.
## Key takeaway

Navajo Nation voters rejected the sitting president who backed coal, advancing two candidates opposed to mining in a historic shift for the tribe.