The Navajo Nation presidential election of 2010 was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Ben Shelly won the election.[1]
The general election was held between New Mexico State SenatorLynda Lovejoy and outgoing Navajo Nation Vice PresidentBen Shelly.
The primary election was held on August 3, 2010. Lynda Lovejoy won a plurality of the vote, becoming the first woman to do so. Ben Shelly came in second place. The primary election included nine other candidates. This was the first Navajo Nation presidential election in which both candidates, Lovejoy and Shelly, were residents of the Eastern part of the Navajo Nation.[2]
Ben Shelly became the first Vice President of the Navajo Nation to be elected president.[3] Had she been elected, Lynda Lovejoy would have become the first female president of the Navajo Nation.[4]
Previously, during the 2006 presidential electionJoe Shirley Jr. had been re-elected to a second term over challenger Lynda Lovejoy. On July 9, 2010, the Navajo Nation Supreme Court ruled that Shirley could not seek a third consecutive term as president.[5]
State Senator Lynda Lovejoy, who unsuccessfully sought the presidency in 2006, easily defeated eleven other candidates with 17,137 votes, becoming the first woman to win a Navajo Nation presidential primary.[2] Navajo Nation Vice PresidentBen Shelly came in second place and qualified for the general election with 7,763 votes. Donald Benally of Shiprock placed third followed by the rest of the candidates.[2]
Voter turnout was relatively low, at just 43.84% of registered voters.[2] An estimated 48,511 of the 110,645 registered voters participated in the primary election.[2]
Shelly claimed victory and promised voters in the Gorman Hall at the Window Rock Sports Center that "I will work with you. We will work together." Lovejoy demanded a recount.[9]
