Chairman, council races go to runoff :: Nov. 7
With no candidate securing a majority of votes in the Friday, Nov. 4 Southern Ute General Election, the top two candidates for chairman and top four for council seats will face off in a runoff election on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
Incumbent Chairman Pearl E. Casias and former Vice Chairman Jimmy R. Newton Jr. were the top two contenders for the chairmanship, according to voting results certified by the Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council on Monday, Nov. 7. Casias claimed 37.4 percent of votes, while Newton’s share was 32.5 percent.
Among the candidates not going to the runoff, Kevin R. Frost had 13.3 percent of votes, Clement J. Frost had 12.5 percent, and Renee J. Cloud had 4.3 percent. A total of 489 votes were cast in the race for chairman.
In the notably more crowded race for two Tribal Council seats, the top vote-getters were Pathimi GoodTracks (18.2 percent), Vida B. Peabody (13 percent), Aaron V. Torres (11.5 percent) and incumbent Alex Cloud (10.3 percent). Because there are two seats open, all four will appear on the Dec. 14 ballot.
Rounding out the rest of the council races were Ian D. Thompson (9.1 percent), Vicenti (Vince) Mirabal (8.8 percent), Steve R. Herrera Sr. (7.1 percent), Andrew C. Frost (6.3 percent), Barbara Scott-Rarick (6.1 percent), Marge Borst (5.4 percent) and Shelly L. Thompson (4.4 percent).
A total of 925 votes were cast for council seats, since each ballot allowed for two.
The deadline to register to vote in the runoff, or to request an absentee ballot, is 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2.
The terms of current members Casias, Cloud and Borst will expire on Dec. 6, leaving the council with just four members for a little over a week before the runoff election.
Since Howard D. Richards Sr. was elected to fill the remaining year of Newton’s term in a Nov. 1 special election, it’s possible that if all three incumbents are voted out, more than half of the Tribal Council would have turned over within two months.