BOIS FORTE RESERVATION- Incumbent Bois Forte Band Chair Cathy Chavers outdueled three competitors in the Bois Forte Band’s primary election on Tuesday but will still face a challenge in the June 11 general election.
Unofficial results show Chavers winning with 41 percent of the vote, nine percent shy of the 50 percent threshold to prevent a two-candidate runoff. Chavers received 157 votes to runner-up Hannah Lehti-Chosa’s 125, or 32 percent of the ballots cast. The winning margin for Chavers came from Nett Lake and urban voters, while Lehti-Chosa beat Chavers 57-51 among Vermilion district voters. The two tied in absentee voting. A total of 387 votes were cast by voters in the contest.
Eliminated from the chair race were Brian L. Whiteman Sr. with 19 percent of the vote and Carlos Hernandez with eight percent.
In a crowded field for District 1 Representative, Perry L. Drift led among the six candidates, with 32 percent, representing 78 of the 245 votes cast. In second place was Edward Villebrun with 55 votes, or 22 percent. Candidates who failed to advance to the general election and their vote percentages included William G. Isham, 19 percent, Robbie Goggleye, 17 percent, and David H. Villebrun Jr., 10 percent.
Drift and Villebrun will now face off in the general election for the District 1 seat.