Sipayik councillors elected in tight race

Following a recount, three tribal members, including a write-in candidate, have been elected to the Sipayik Tribal Council, in the tribal election held on September 8. The election follows a period of resignations from the council and a recall effort. In the Indian Township tribal election, the first openly transgender person elected to public office in Maine received the most votes to be on the school board.
In the Sipayik election, Dylan Francis was the top vote-getter, receiving 144 votes, with Pamela Francis garnering 93 votes and write-in candidate Betty Jo Cates receiving 88, just two more votes than candidate Viola Francis. Another write-in, Frederick Moore III, a former chief, received 74 votes. During the election, 247 votes were cast, which is lower than the usual 300 to 400 ballots. The three councillors' four-year terms begin on October 1.
The seats have been held by Edward J. Nicholas, Pamela Francis and Holly Cleaves. Nicholas and Francis had been elected in a March 10 special election to fill the seats held by Patrick Bassett and Philip Bassett, who had resigned.
Both Francis and Cleaves then resigned from the council this summer. Francis also had been the subject of a recall petition. Debbie Yarmal, who helped circulate the petition, says it alleged failure to meet the needs of the community and conflict of interest on the part of Francis. The petition had 212 signatures, with 196 needed to proceed with the process for calling a recall vote. According to Yarmal, Francis resigned from the tribal council after the petition was turned in and accepted by the council on August 12. She then was nominated for a new council seat at a caucus held later that day.
In other election results, Mary Theresa Sapiel and Holly Cleaves were elected to the two three-year open terms on the school board. Sapiel received 156 votes and write-in candidate Cleaves received 73. Gregory Newell received 28 write-in votes and Fawn Socobasin 21 write-in votes.

Indian Township results
At Indian Township, two new tribal councillors and three new members of the school board were elected in the September 9 election. Incumbent Joseph Socobasin was reelected to the tribal council with 151 votes and will be joined by new councillors Matthew Dana II, who received 146 votes, and Mali Tomah-Pride, who received 129, just besting by three votes incumbent Wade Lola, who received 126. Councillor Paul Downing did not seek reelection. Others running for the three open positions for the four-year terms were Leslie Nicholas Sr., 90 votes, Nipawest Sabattus, 77 votes, Jevon Dore, 52, and Dean Francis Sr., 25.
For the three open three-year terms on the school board, Geo Neptune received the most votes, 155, followed by Roger Brown with 145 and Russell Lola with 121. They will be replacing Lena Mitchell, who was not reelected, Adrienne Lola, who did not seek reelection, and Amy Tomah, who had resigned. Also running were Nora Dechaine, who received 111 votes, Lisa Cox, 89, Lena Mitchell, 82, Dachelle McCarthy, 51, and Mark Stevens, 31.
According to MaineTransNet, Geo Neptune is the first openly two-spirit, transgender and non-binary person elected to public office in Maine.
A total of 315 votes were cast in the election, which is about average for a tribal election in which candidates are not running for chief.