What’s Uniting, and Dividing, Native Voters in Arizona

Native American voters were key to helping Democrats clinch Arizona in 2020. Though they make up only about 5 percent of the state’s population, they tend to vote heavily Democratic, and their power at the ballot box is growing through grass roots efforts to register and turn out the Native vote.

But in this election, many Native voters say they feel exhausted, disappointed and torn about how to vote. Some were re-energized by Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee. But overall it was frustration and anxiety that we heard as we talked with more than four dozen voters around Phoenix and on the Navajo Nation, the country’s largest reservation, about their concerns.

They worried about Arizona’s increasingly deadly heat. Many voters felt like they had been left out of the state’s growing economy, with unemployment for Native Americans almost double the national average. And they questioned why electricity, running water and good health care were still out of reach on reservations, even after the passage of a huge infrastructure bill in 2021.

Inflation, Immigration and Abortion Hit Close to Home

In interviews, many Native voters said the sting of inflation was even worse on reservations struggling with chronic poverty. People who commute hours to work from their rural homes on the Navajo Nation say they are spending hundreds of dollars more on gas. A loaf of bread at the sole grocery store in their towns can now run them $5.

Scroll to play video

Liam Enos, 17, also a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, will cast his first vote in November. He wants to study business in college and is leaning toward Mr. Trump, because he wants the next president to bring more jobs and businesses. “I want to vote for someone who can help our community,” he said.

But Tony Santo, who runs a roadside stand serving fry bread and green chile, said too many people in his life had died of Covid for him to consider supporting the former president. “He disrespected the whole country,” Mr. Santo said.

On some of the most divisive issues facing Americans, Native voters were also split, with issues like immigration and abortion hitting close to home.

Henrietta Jackson, 54, says she opposes Republican efforts to restrict abortion. At the same time, she is exasperated by how much the campaigns are focused on the issue. “It’s nobody else’s choice,” she said. “What we should be focusing on is getting our country united.”

Maryetta and Henrietta Jackson

With so much at stake, Native voters say they’re ultimately looking for a candidate who can bring answers — and change.

“We depend too much on the government,” said Olson Paddock, a 68-year-old retired nursing-home worker. “I’m pro-Trump. He’s the only one who’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

Sepchedhiosik and Angel Molina

Some who had been flirting with third-party candidates said they were now solidly backing Ms. Harris. Some even said they felt some optimism, including Angel Molina, 20, a member of the Gila River Indian Community.

“All I can do is hope that we will be able to come together,” she said, “and make a good judgment on what the future of our country will look like.”