Seki secures reelection bid for Red Lake tribal chairman

RED LAKE — Red Lake Chairman Darrell Seki Sr. has won his reelection campaign and will remain at the helm of the Red Lake Nation following the runoff election on Wednesday, July 15.

Seki was challenged by former Red Lake Chairman Floyd "Buck" Jourdain, who earned 15 more votes than Seki in May's initial election.

On Wednesday, Seki earned more than 54% of the vote, which saw around 3,500 ballots cast.

Larissa Donovan

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KAXE

Also winning elections in Wednesday's runoff were Clem May Sr. for Red Lake representative, and Lisa Beaulieu for Little Rock.

Clem May Sr. earned more than 61% of the 1,400 ballots cast in that district, and Beaulieu earned more than 58% of the 600 ballots cast.

Former Red Lake representative Rob May has already been sworn in as secretary after earning more than 50% of the vote in the election in May.

Across the U.S., the Red Lake Band has more than 17,000 members, with more than 14,000 living in Minnesota.

The runoff election results include absentee ballots by mail or in person, as well as those gathered in Red Lake offices in Minneapolis and Bemidji.

As a sovereign entity, the Red Lake Nation conducts its own elect ions separate from the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, which oversees elections for six Ojibwe bands in Northern Minnesota.