The incumbent tribal chairman and two incumbent tribal councilors fared well in a Primary Election held last week by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

The election narrowed a field of three candidates running for the tribal chairman’s seat to two, and a field of 20 candidates running for three tribal council seats to six.  Tribal members will elect a tribal chairman and three tribal councilors in a Regular Election slated for May 21.

Two-term Tribal Chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum was the top vote-getter in a three-way race for the chairmanship.  Incumbent Tribal Councilor Derek Bailey took second in the race and will run against Kewaygoshkum in the Regular Election.  Former Tribal Councilor Thurlow “Sam” McClellan, who took third in last week’s election, has been eliminated from the running.

Unofficial election results indicated that Kewaygoshkum took 37 percent of the vote; Bailey 33 percent; and McClellan 30 percent.

Of the tribe’s 864 eligible voters, 457 cast ballots at four polling places last Wednesday, April 9, or submitted absentee ballots, representing a voter turnout of nearly 53 percent.  Turnout was heaviest at the tribe’s Peshawbestown polling place, where the 205 votes cast represented more than a 61 percent turnout in the Leelanau County community.

Adult tribal members residing anywhere in the tribe’s six-county service area were eligible to vote, with polling places in Grand Traverse, Charlevoix and Benzie counties.

Incumbent Tribal Councilors David Arroyo and Sandra Witherspoon took first and second place, respectively, in a 20-way race for three Tribal Council seats, both garnering more than 10 percent of the vote.  The third place finisher, Brian Napont, won 149 votes, or nearly 7.9 percent of the total.  

Although Napont was the front runner in two Primary Elections held by the tribe in 2006, charges that he and McClellan had engaged in improper campaign practices eliminated the two from the tribe’s last Regular Election.  In addition, allegations of impropriety against the tribal Election Board delayed the 2006 Regular Election until January 2007, when three of the six  incumbent Tribal Council members were seated. The other three candidates whose names are expected to appear on the May 21 Regular Election ballot are Thomas Peters, who won 133 votes; Suzanne McSawby, who won 130 votes; and Steven Feringa, who won 126 votes.

Candidates and other tribal members had until early this week to challenge results of the April 9 Primary Election; and the tribal Election Board was expected to certify the unofficial results yesterday, April 16.

Tribal members may begin requesting absentee ballots for the May 21 Regular Election today, April 17, and may request an absentee ballot up until 4 p.m. on May 2.  The deadline for voter registration for the Regular Election is May 14.