Starting from a field of 12 candidates running for Tribal Council positions, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) members in the six-county service area voted to narrow down the race to six people in Tuesday’s primary. In addition, the five candidates running for the tribal chairman office were narrowed down to two people.
The upcoming May 7 general election will determine which of the six candidates will fill the three open seats on the Tribal Council, as well as who will be elected as the new chairman. The current tribal chairman, David Arroyo, did not file for reelection this year.
Steve McClellan, chairman of the tribal election board, said on Tuesday that he expected the all-day primary to run smoothly.
“It’s going good so far, and we anticipate it to be that way for the rest of the day for all of us,” McClellan said midday on Tuesday, adding that many voters come during the afternoon rather than first thing in the morning to fill out a ballot. “The tribal chairman (seat) is up every four years… the tribal council is every two years, but it’s always three council seats that are up.” According to unofficial primary election results from the tribal election board, Brian Napont, incumbent tribal councilor, received the most votes, a total of 112, or 23%, for the tribal chairman seat. The second candidate with the most votes was Sandra Witherspoon, with 107 votes, or 21.9%. Both Napont and Witherspoon appear as the top two candidates for the general election next month, however, the primary results to ensure these are the official ballot choices will be certified by April 10 if no election challenges are filed with the election board.
Trailing behind by just one vote, or 21.7%, was candidate Thurlow “Sam” McClellan. The other two chairman candidates, incumbent tribal councilor Theresa Marshall (90 votes) and Dana Greensky (73 votes) were eliminated from the race.
In the tribal council candidate field, incumbent Tribal Councilor Donna Swallows garnered the most votes, 151, or 11.4%. It was a close race though, with Angelina Raphael receiving 150 votes, followed by Anna Miller with 149. Both Raphael and Miller received 11.3% of the total votes.
Witherspoon, who received enough votes to emerge as one of two candidates for the chairman seat, also ran as a candidate for tribal council, coming out of the primary with 144 votes (10.9%). Scott Lewis received 10.1%, or 133 votes, and finally, Tanya Raphael received 114 votes (8.6%). The candidates eliminated from the tribal council running include Faith Anderson, Sandra Anderson, Theresa Marshall, Michelle Shaw, Tanya Tanner, and Sandra Yannot.
Voter turnout in this year’s primary was 31% of the 939 tribal members eligible to vote, down slightly from the primary in April of 2022, which was 32%.
Once the general election results are certified on May 15 if no challenges are filed, the Oath of Office is tentatively scheduled for May 17 at Leelanau Sands Showroom.
