In northern Minnesota, tribal chair races narrow

The White Earth Nation chose two candidates Tuesday to run for tribal chair.

Terry Tibbetts Sr. and Mindy Iverson led the field of 12 candidates in the primary, each receiving nearly 20 percent of the total votes. They'll run in June for the position left open by longtime chair Erma Vizenor, who was removed from office earlier this year.

According to unofficial election results, Tibbetts edged out an eight vote lead over Iverson.

Winona LaDuke, by far the highest profile candidate fell below the front runners by just a few percentage points. The well-known environmental and tribal rights activist, said Wednesday that she may contest the election.

"There were a lot of absentee ballots that weren't counted," she said.

LaDuke is executive director of the Native American environmental group Honor the Earth. She ran as Ralph Nader's Green Party vice presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000, and has written a handful of books. She has a national following, which garnered her a lot of support among tribe members living off the White Earth Reservation.

One quarter of all votes cast in the primary were absentee ballots sent in from far flung tribe members. LaDuke received the largest percentage of absentee ballots, by far. But she claims hundreds more were thrown out on legal technicalities. She said she's talking to legal counsel about her options.

Barbara Fabre and Eugene Tibbetts will also run in June for district three representative.

The Leech Lake Band also held its primary election Tuesday. Faron Jackson Sr. beat out current Tribal Chair Carri Jones by a large margin.

LeRoy Fairbanks also kept his seat as district three representative. Each candidate took more than 50 percent of the primary vote, which secures their seats. The main election originally scheduled for later this summer has been canceled.