32 Tribal Members Nominated to Run for Four Spots on the Tribal Governing Board

By Joe Morey News Editor

The Tribal Caucus for the 2025 LCO elections were held Saturday morning, April 5, resulting in a wide range of 32 nominees who will vie for four open governing board seats. The top eight vote getters will advance in the May 10 primary election for the general election to be held on June 21.

The nominees in the order they will appear on the ballot include;

Dulcie Rae Wolf

Marcy Gouge

Sirella Ford

David Fleming

Thomas Isham

Don Carley

Jeff Tribble

Lynette Tribble

Doreen Wolfe

Mike DeNasha

Louis Taylor

Mike Tainter

Terrance Manuelito

Billie Jo Taylor

Adam DeNasha

Daylene Sharlow Gokey

Jason Martin

Robert Sharlow

Valerie Hugo

Aaron DeBrot

John Baker

David Bisonette

James Schlender Jr

Tweed Shuman

Danielle Grover

John Randall Cadotte

Lorraine Gouge

Janet Quaderer

Jordan St. Germaine

Jeff Crone

Doreen DeBrot

Ryan Bunker Jr

All candidates nominated who choose to accept their nominations will have three working days following the Caucus to accept or reject their nomination in written notice to the Election Committee.

Prior to the names being approved for the ballot, the committee shall confirm their age of at least 21 years and passed a background check of no election fraud crimes, or felonies. The prospective candidate may prove the crimes were over 15 years old form time of punishment.

The Primary Election will take place five weeks following that date on Saturday, May 10, with the General Election following another six weeks from that date on Saturday, June 21. Polling locations are at the Tribal Center and New Post Community Center.

This election cycle would normally be for three seats of Louis Taylor, Tweed Shuman and Don Carley, but there are four open seats after the Election Committee said in a release that David Bisonette, tribal governing board member who took his seat on the board only weeks after the June 2023 election when Kelly Nayquonabe resigned her seat she had just won in the election, would have to run for the remaining two years of his seat.

The Election Committee said this was taken upon advice from the LCO Attorney General Office, which stated, “Article III, Section 8 of the LCO Constitution contains plan and unambiguous instructions for filling a vacant seat on the Tribal Governing Board.”

The constitution states that by any affirmative vote of four of its members shall temporarily fill by appointment until the next regular election any vacancy occurring on the board.

“The inclusion of the word ‘temporarily’, in conjunction with the time limitation until the next regular election, makes clear that the Tribal Members who voted to adopt the LCO Constitution did not intend for the TGB to fill vacancies permanently by appointment,” the release stated.

As a result of the advice, the Election Committee determined that four seats will be up for election this year. Furthermore, the release states that the three candidates with the highest amount of votes will serve out the regular four year term while the fourth highest vote getter will serve out the remaining two years of the vacated seat from the 2023 election.