Unofficial results for District Representatives (click/tap to enlarge)

Red Lake Band members went to the polls yesterday to vote in the tribe’s general election, casting ballots for Tribal Chairman, Tribal Secretary, Tribal Treasurer, and in four District Representative races.

Any candidate that wins more than 50% of the vote wins the election. But if no one gets more than 50%, then the top-two vote-getters would go to a run-off election in July.

For the position of Tribal Chairman, incumbent Darrell Seki, Sr. faced former Chairman Floyd “Buck” Jourdain and three other candidates. It was a very close race with Jourdain receiving 1,510 votes, just three votes ahead of Seki, who received 1,507. Those two will face off in a run-off election.

The Tribal Secretary election had incumbent Sam Strong facing challenger Tim Sumner, who currently sits on the Beltrami County Board. This was another very close contest, with Strong receiving 1,731 votes, just 38 more than Sumner’s 1,693 votes. Strong had just over 50% of the vote, so he wins the election.

With current Tribal Treasurer Annette Johnson choosing not to seek re-election, the two candidates for that contest were Vernelle Lussier and Martina Beaulieu. Lussier defeated Beaulieu with more than 67% of the vote, with Lussier receiving 2,355 votes versus Beaulieu’s 1,129 votes.

A run-off election will be held for all four District Representative positions. The candidates advancing for each position are:

• Red Lake – Donald L. Good, Sr. (incumbent) and Robert Lee May
• Little Rock – Adrian Beaulieu (incumbent) and Harlow Spears
• Redby – Herman Donnell and Harold Graves, Jr.
• Ponemah – Randall Kingbird and Eugene StandingCloud

Full results for the general election can be found here.

By — Hanky Hazelton