Meet the Grand Portage Tribal Council candidates

The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is holding its Tribal Council general election on Tuesday, August 18. In the race for Tribal Council committeeperson are incumbent Rick Anderson and former Tribal Council member Marie Spry.

The June 9 primary reduced the slate of candidates from five to Spry and Anderson. Anderson received 41.16 percent of the vote and Marie Spry garnered 25.99 percent.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence spoke with both candidates. We’ll hear those conversations now, starting with Marie Spry.

And now, we’ll hear from candidate for Tribal Council committee person, Rick Anderson.

The position of Tribal Chairperson is not on the August ballot, as Robert “Bobby” Deschampe received more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary. Under Minnesota Chippewa Tribe election guidelines, any candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary is declared the winner and there is no need for a general election.

Deschampe received 54.51 percent of the votes cast. Incumbent Beth Drost received 43.32 percent. A third candidate, Earl Johnson earned 2.17 percent of votes cast. See related story here.

According to Gary Frazer, executive director of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, the winner of the committeeperson race will take the oath of office sometime in September.

Deschampe will take the oath of office sooner, sometime in August. He has resigned from his county commissioner seat to serve on the Tribal Council. See related story here.

Rhonda Silence July 31, 2020