Kathleen Nez

Kathleen Nez
Assistant Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office September 17, 2019
Leader	Carrie Simone
Preceded by	Vacant
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Julian Catalan
7th President of the Navajo Nation
In office January 9, 2007 – January 13, 2015
Vice President	Fred Begay (2007-2011) Samuel Tso (2011-2015)
Preceded by	Joseph Temple
Succeeded by	Sam Tso
Member of the Arizona Senate from the 7th district
In office January 8, 2001 – January 8, 2007
Preceded by	Patrica Mars
Succeeded by	Andrew Begay
Navajo Nation Council Delegate
In office January 15, 1991 – February 4, 2000
Preceded by	John Nez
Succeeded by	Andrew Begay
Personal details
Born	Kathleen Hope Nez May 5, 1957 (age 62) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality	American, Navajo
Political party	Democratic (2000-2006, 2018-)
Other political affiliations	Independent (1971-2000, 2006-2018)
Spouse	John MacDonald (m. 1994; sep. 2015)
Children	2
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BA) Yale University (MA)

Kathleen Hope Nez (born May 5, 1957) is an American and Navajo politician, academic, activist, and anthropologist who is the current U.S. Representative from Arizona's 7th congressional district, having been elected in the 2018 midterm elections, and the Assistant House Democratic Leader (what the party calls "Assistant Speaker"), having been elected by the House Democratic Caucus during the 116th Congress. She has previous served as the President of the Navajo Nation from 2007 to 2015, a member of the Arizona Senate from 2001 to 2007, and a member of the Navajo Nation Council from 1991 to 2000. She is one of the first Native American elected to Congress and the first woman elected to serve as the President of the Navajo Nation. She considers herself a "Life-long Progressive".

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

Nez annouced her candidacy for U.S. Congress in Arizona's 7th congressional district on January 15, 2018, soon after the then-incumbent annouced his candidacy for the 2018 Special Senate election in Arizona. In the Latino-majority, heavily Democratic district, the Democratic primary is often the real race. Nez would gain an early lead after an endorsement from then then-incumbent and then then-Mayor of Phoenix. She would win the 5-way primary with 47% of the vote. She would easily win the general with 71% of the vote.

Tenure

On January 3, 2019, Nez was sworn in wearing tradition Navajo regalia. On September 17, 2019, during what has been called a "cabinet reshuffle" after Carrie Simone's election as Speaker of the House, Nez was appointed to the role of "Assistant Speaker" by Speaker Simone and confirmed without a voice vote by the House Democratic Caucus. It has been reported by the media that both Senator Murphy and Senator Dayton have considered selected Nez to be the Vice Presidental nominee in the case that either becomes the Presidental nominee at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. During the 2020 Bankruptcy Crisis, Nez served as the Sponsor on the DIRE Act, the offical Democratic relief bill for the Crisis, with Senator Westra.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions
  • Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
• Committee on Oversight and Reform
  • Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Caucus memberships

• Blue Collar Caucus
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Congressional Native American Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Expand Social Security Caucus
• Medicare for All Caucus

Election History

2006 Navajo Nation President and Vice-President, General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kathleen Nez and Fred Begay	34,025	51.4%
	Democratic	Joseph Temple and Jim Phillips	32,834	49.6%
Total Votes			66,859

2010 Navajo Nation President and Vice-President, General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Kathleen Nez and Sam Tso	35,424	55.34%
	Democratic	Joseph Temple and Fred Begay	29,189	45.66%
Total Votes			64,613

2018 U.S. House Democratic primary, Arizona's 7th congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kathleen Nez	15,587	47.4%
	Democratic	Antonio Zavala	11,674	35.5%
	Democratic	Miranda Santiago	3,058	9.3%
	Democratic	Hunter Caldwell Sr.	1,447	4.4%
	Democratic	Cristo Encarnación	1,052	3.2%
		Write Ins	66	0.2%
Total Votes			32,884

2018 U.S. House election, Arizona's 7th congressional district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kathleen Nez	110,476	70.9%
	Republican	Jon Schwarz	30,697	19.7%
	Libertarian	Luca Priest-Mendez	14,180	9.1%
		Write Ins	467	0.3%
Total Votes			155,820