Lowes will remain chairman following Sault Tribe election

SAULT STE. MARIE — The tribe has spoken and Austin Lowes will remain chairman following Thursday's election.

On June 27, the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians held its general election for chairman and board of directors. The results of the election are unofficial and still need to be certified.

Chairman incumbent Lowes won the election over his competition, previous chairman DJ Hoffman, who was removed from the position following a vote of no confidence from the tribal board of directors.

Lowes received 3,800 votes in the election, beating Hoffman with his 2,542 votes.

The Sault Tribe organizes tribal members in the Upper Peninsula into five units based on where they live. The board of directors is made up of 12 people representing those five units. There are five board members from Unit 1, one board member represents Unit 5 and two board members represent each other unit.

The votes for board of directors positions were split into different groups. In the first unit, three positions were made available of the six candidates.

The top three vote earners Michael McKerchie, Kimberle Gravelle and former chairperson Aaron Payment were all elected into Unit 1.

McKerchie received 1,301 votes, Gravelle 1,235 votes and Payment 1,173 votes, while the runner-up contestants Betty Freiheit received 1,113 votes, Michael Lumsden 962 votes and Joanne Pavlat-Carr received 1,146 votes.

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Lana Causley won in Unit 2 with 463 votes, winning over her competitor Dean Hyslop Sr. with 196 votes.

In Unit 3, Bridgett Sorenson won the election with 680 votes over John Rickley with 478 votes.

And in Unit 4, Larry Barbeau won with 401 votes over his competitor Darcy Morrow, who received 323 votes.

— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com