Candidate calls attack ad that misidentified him a “slap in the face.”

Screenshot of the now-off-air ad that featured former Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer instead of Nez.

An Arizona congressional candidate and former Navajo Nation president called an attack ad that misidentified him a “slap in the face to tribal leaders” on Friday. The Trump-aligned Republican group behind the ad has poured more than $3.3 million into the race. 

“It was clearly rushed,” said Jonathan Nez in a phone interview with Phoenix New Times. “They’re trying to bail out Eli Crane’s re-election campaign. They know they’re in trouble. It shows me that they didn’t do their research.” 

Nez, the Democratic candidate running for Arizona’s 2nd congressional district, is apparently making Republican leadership and the MAGA machine sweat. So much so that they apparently whipped up a haphazard TV attack ad that misidentified Nez twice, using a photo of Myron Lizer, Nez’s vice president of the Navajo Nation and a prominent Republican. 

“Jonathan Nez was accused of using tribal money to take his family to Disney World,” a woman’s voice reads. A photo of Nez holding a microphone is in the background. But that’s not Nez. It’s Lizer.

The 30-second ad makes the same absurd mistake a few seconds later. The same photo of Lizer splashes across the screen as the woman reads, “Arizona can’t afford Jonathan Nez.” 

Nez learned about the ad Friday morning after constituents saw Lizer’s face flash incorrectly across their TV screens, and a “lot of them were laughing about it.” The ad has since been corrected. 

“My opponent, as well as his supporters, his backers, are so disconnected from this district that they don’t even know the difference between the candidate and a former tribal president and a former tribal vice president,” he said. 

No Going Back PAC, a committee tied to President Donald Trump’s political operation, paid for the ad supporting MAGA incumbent Rep. Eli Crane. Crane represents Congressional District 2. It covers large chunks of northern Arizona, including the Navajo Nation, Flagstaff and Sedona. It also stretches into parts of Pinal and Maricopa Counties. Neither the PAC nor Crane’s campaign immediately responded to New Times’ request for comment. 

The PAC recently poured money into the Crane-Nez race. According to AdImpact, the group has spent more than $3.3 million on ad buys in the contest. 

Crane handily won his race against Nez in 2024, with more than 54% of the vote. Trump won the district by 15 points. But given Trump’s unpopularity and his absence from the ballot, the race appears close this time around. According to August polling data from consulting group GBAO, Nez is only two points behind Crane with 44% to Crane’s 46%. But that’s within the poll’s margin of error. 

“The race is close now,” Nez said. “His supporters are afraid their candidate is going to lose, so now they’re dumping a lot of dollars into this district where they thought it was safe.”