BAY MILLS - More than 550 tribal members took to the polls on Nov. 2 for the Bay Mills General Election, held at the Armella B. Parker Senior Center.
In a close race, incumbent Chairman Jeff Parker held off challenger Kurt Perron. Parker sealed his victory with 290 votes; Perron garnered 257. Seven additional votes were cast for various write-in candidates.
Terry Carrick won the race for the vice chairman seat left vacant by Allyn Cameron, who chose not to run for re-election. Carrick won his seat with 320 votes. Leah Jahnke finished with 216 votes.
The race for secretary was won by Richard LeBlanc in the tightest margin of this election. He edged out Jennifer Touchtone by only three votes. LeBlanc received 270 to his credit, while Touchtone tallied 267.
Incumbent Treasurer Diane Teeple lost her bid for re-election to newcomer Mike Willis. He won his seat with 293 votes to Teeple's 244.
In the largest victory in recent history, Incumbent Councilperson Alex Easton breezed by William LeBlanc with a 245-vote victory. Easton garnered 391 votes, while LeBlanc received only 146.
Shelly Deuman beat out rival Phil Parish for the Appellate Judge position. She totalled 217 votes to Parish's 174. Running a difficult race as a write-in candidate, Christel Frazier made a strong finish with 129 votes.
Five vacant seats on the conservation committee were filled by Jacques LeBlanc Sr. (405), Shawn Hascall (358), Mark LeBlanc (354), C. John Bowen (328) and Albert Lothrop (277).
