Native News
A Star Arrives from Indian Country
Native Vote 2026
I first laid eyes on Clara Pratte when she arrived at my Washington office as a Udall Foundation Native Intern. Years later, we worked together on issues affecting Tucson and Arizona’s water agencies. Her efforts were impressive. Now I find her name on a sample ballot for a critical seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission. I hope she wins not only because she will do an excellent job, but also because her successes in life perfectly match the positive spirit, hard work, and achievement our Country hungers for today.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published in Terry Bracy’s Short Putts. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Few candidates for office have had it tougher than Clara Pratte. She grew up on the Navajo Reservation without the necessities of electricity and running water until it finally arrived in her teenage years. At age fourteen, she made the difficult decision to leave home rather than witness the nightmare of her parents’ addiction to alcohol and drugs. Her father died a year later. Clara credits her mother for conquering her addiction, and seven aunts for helping to raise her to be the success she is today.
She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Arizona and graduate studies in public policy at a celebrated program at Carnegie Mellon University. Headed into corporate life, Professor Neil Vance convinced her to try public service. She then won the highly competitive Udall Congressional Fellowship for Native students and was inspired again by her experience working in the office of the late Congressman Raul Grijalva. Soon after, she was chosen as a Presidential Fellow, and because of her interest in business was assigned to Commerce Department. When back in Navajo Country, Pratte started a successful business, Navajo Power, which provides clean energy to the Reservation.
Clara’s decision to run for the Corporate Commission rather than Congress or another high-profile position is characteristic of a leader who chose public service to help families rather than gain fame or fortune.
What candidate could care about the price of electricity more than one who lived without it? But for Pratte that is far from the only issue that leads her back to government.
“My run for the Commission is rooted in the idea that basic infrastructure should be clean, safe, and available for all Americans,” she said in a recent interview. As a small business owner, she has felt the sting of constantly rising utility prices and has criticized the current board as collaborators of the utilities they are supposed to regulate. She cites the explosive growth of data centers the Commission supports despite the drain on water supplies, and the bank accounts of working people. In fewer than two years, Trump has corrupted our regulatory agencies that protect against fraud, bribery, and theft. Pay-to-play is now the rule, and it has handed over our federal government to billionaires, especially Elon Musk. The way we begin taking it back is electing candidates who will stand for the interests of ordinary citizens.
I have been involved in politics for a half-century, worked in both the legislative and executive branches, and played lead roles in congressional and presidential campaigns. I have never seen the level of corruption infecting Washington today. The elections of 2026 are the most important in my lifetime.
It is going to take real stars to begin the reconstruction, and that is why Clara Pratte gives me hope. If a courageous and gifted leader like her is willing to step forward to restore honest regulation of our utilities, I am heartened to believe there are others of the younger generations also making this difficult choice. Our job is to support them. “I am gravely concerned about the Commission’s lack of community engagement, care for seniors, and care for those on fixed income,” she told this column. “We can and should do better for our future generations.
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