A 30-second attack ad meant to tear down Democratic congressional candidate Jonathan Nez instead put the face of his own former running mate on television screens across northern Arizona. The ad, funded by a Trump-aligned super PAC backing Republican incumbent Eli Crane, misidentified Nez twice, using photos of Myron Lizer, the Republican who served as Nez’s vice president during their four years running the Navajo Nation together.
Nez, the former Navajo Nation president now running against Crane in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, called the mistake a slap in the face to tribal leaders, according to Phoenix New Times. He told the outlet he learned about the ad Friday morning and believes it was clearly rushed, created to bail out Crane’s reelection campaign without the creators doing their research.
The ad accused Nez of using tribal money to take his family to Disney World, the New Times reports, while displaying Lizer’s image rather than Nez’s. It also repeated the same photo of Lizer while declaring that Arizona cannot afford Jonathan Nez, compounding the error rather than correcting it on first use.
A Mix-Up Rooted in a Bipartisan Partnership
The error stung in part because of just how publicly intertwined the two men’s political histories are. Nez and Lizer ran together on a bipartisan tribal ticket in 2018, winning the Navajo Nation presidential election with 66% of the vote before serving four years together as president and vice president, according to Wikipedia. Lizer has since built a reputation as a prominent Republican businessman who previously ran an Ace Hardware store in Window Rock.
Their partisan paths diverged sharply on the national stage. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Nez spoke at the Democratic National Convention while Lizer addressed the Republican National Convention one week later, according to a report cited via The Washington Post. Lizer endorsed Trump’s tribal policies while Nez aligned with national Democrats, making the mix-up by a Trump-aligned PAC especially jarring to those familiar with the two men’s record.
Constituents who saw Lizer’s face incorrectly displayed on their television screens reacted with laughter in many cases, per the New Times reporting. The ad was later corrected after the misidentification came to light, though the paper notes the initial version had already aired.
Who Is Behind the Ad
No Going Back PAC, the group tied to President Donald Trump’s political operation that paid for the ad supporting Crane, has spent more than $3.3 million on ad buys in the Crane-Nez race, according to AdImpact figures cited by the New Times. Nationally, the same super PAC has disbursed more than $74 million in political spending during the 2026 election cycle, according to PollingSource, underscoring the scale of outside conservative money flowing into House races this cycle. No Going Back PAC did not immediately respond to the New Times’ request for comment, nor did the Crane campaign.
A Rematch in a Sprawling, Diverse District
Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District covers large parts of northern Arizona, including the Navajo Nation, Flagstaff, and Sedona, and extends into parts of Pinal and Maricopa counties, per the New Times. The district encompasses 14 of the state’s 22 federally recognized Native American tribes, with Native American residents making up roughly 20% of its total population, according to the Council for a Livable World.
Crane, a Navy SEAL veteran who served three deployments with SEAL Team 3, was first elected to Congress in 2022 after co-founding Bottle Breacher, a company that made bottle openers out of bullet casings, according to Wikipedia. He is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and was one of eight House Republicans nationwide who voted in October 2023 to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, according to a report republished by the Rocky Mountain Outlook.
By winning the Democratic primary nomination in 2024, Nez became the first Native American candidate in Arizona history to win a major party’s nomination for a U.S. congressional seat, according to KJZZ. Crane defeated Nez in that 2024 general election with more than 54% of the vote, a result the New Times notes came as Trump carried the district by 15 points.
Polling Shows a Tight Race This Time
This year’s rematch looks considerably closer. August polling from GBAO had Nez trailing Crane 44% to 46%, a two-point gap within the poll’s margin of error, the New Times reports. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the district to its Red to Blue priority program in early 2026 to target Crane’s seat, according to the Council for a Livable World, signaling national party investment in flipping the seat.
Nez told the New Times the race is close now and said supporters are putting substantial funds into the district because they fear Crane will lose. The flubbed attack ad, whatever its intent, has only added fuel to that narrative in the campaign’s final stretch.
