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Eric Descheenie

Eric Descheenie is an American politician who is a former member of the Arizona House of Representatives and a candidate for the 2026 United States House of Representatives election in Arizona's 2nd congressional district. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life, education, and career

Descheenie was born in Tuba City, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation in 1978. His family is originally from Chinle, Arizona. He has lived across multiple parts of the Phoenix Valley since middle childhood. Descheenie attended Arizona State University (ASU) and earned his bachelor's degree in sociology. In 2004, he began working at the Arizona Governor's Office of Equal Opportunity under Governor Janet Napolitano. Following this, he became Tribal Liaison for the Arizona Department of Housing, managing the Governor's Tribal Housing Initiative.

Descheenie has also served as the Director of Tribal Government Relations for the Navajo County Board of Supervisors. He has held several positions with the Office of the Speaker and Office of the President and Vice President for the Navajo Nation. While in the Office of the President and Vice President, Descheenie founded and co-chaired the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition that formally proposed to the White House the creation of the Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah. On December 28, 2016, President Barack Obama signed the Presidential Proclamation establishing the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument.

Political career

In 2016, Descheenie was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives, serving from 2017 to 2018.

In 2018, Descheenie served as a delegate to the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2019, he spoke at Chiang Mai University in Thailand about how Indigenous Peoples are building inclusive, accountable, and peaceful societies. In 2023, he joined an international exchange in Victoria, Australia, connecting with Indigenous leaders from the United States and New Zealand to share knowledge on protecting rivers and ancestral lands.

In August 2025, Descheenie announced a campaign for the Democratic nomination for Arizona's 2nd congressional district in the 2026 election.

Elections

  • 2016 – Descheenie and Wenona Benally were unopposed in the Democratic Primary and the general election.
  • 2014 – Descheenie lost the District 7 senate Democratic primary to incumbent Carlyle Begay. Begay would later switch to the Republican Party in 2015.

References

External links