In Western, crickets

Posted by Krista Allen | Apr 23, 2015 | Election 2014 |

Turnout dismal on Deschene’s home turf

Three Tonalea-Red Lake voters stand at the voting booth on Tuesday afternoon to cast their ballot for the Navajo Nation special election. According to unofficial results, Begaye-Nez received 257 votes here while Shirley-Benally received 195 votes. (Times photo – Krista Allen)

KAIBETO, TONALEA-RED LAKE, TS’AH BII KIN, and TUBA CITY, Ariz.

For some voters on Tuesday, Western Navajo had a broken-hearted atmosphere.

A voter on Tuesday evening walks toward the ballot box after casting his vote at Ts’ah Bii Kin, Ariz. According to unofficial results, Begaye-Nez received 185 votes here while Shirley-Benally received 53. (Times photo – Krista Allen)

Perhaps to vent their fury over their votes not being counted the first time, someone egged team Shirley-Benally’s campaign van Monday afternoon outside Tónaneesdizí Chapter, where the duo had one of their final meet-and-greets.

“It’s deserted, it’s not happy like the regular election,” said a Tónaneesdizí voter, who didn’t want to disclose her name, on Tuesday afternoon outside the local governance building. “There’s nobody, just a few people and it’s sad.”

Meanwhile, Maybelle Goldtooth talked with candidate Russell Begaye, the eventual victor, about the need for a new senior center.

In response, Begaye told her, “(Vice President-elect Jonathan Nez and I) are really in support of senior centers. That’s where they eat and chat . . . ”

Goldtooth interrupted, “There’s no gathering place for them.” Immediately, she changed the subject to veterans and talked about how former two-term Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. didn’t help veterans.

“It’s now been two times that I confronted (Shirley) about veterans,” Goldtooth said. “I told him, ‘The first time you ran, you said every veteran is going to have a house.’ The second term, nothing.”

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