Thousands of members from the White Mountain Apache Tribe turned out to the polls on Wednesday to vote in a primary election that resulted in the sitting chairman losing his chance at serving another term.
In a three-way race, Chairman Kasey Velasquez earned a little over 400 votes, while his challengers both received nearly four times as many, according to unofficial results from the White Mountain Apache Tribe Election Commission.
In the end, though, longtime Whiteriver school board member Orlando Carroll got the most votes by a margin of more than 50 ballots. He will face off against Councilman Gary Alchesay in the April general election.
The news was first broadcast by tribal radio station KNNB late Wednesday, while that outcome was certified the next morning. On social media, Carroll wrote, "sent a message with your vote for a positive, new direction.”
This election came the same day the tribe announced that a special prosecutor declined to criminally charge Velasquez under tribal law for allegations of sexual harassment against the HR director.
The chairman remains on paid administrative leave amid an ongoing civil investigation being carried out by the same special prosecutor, which is “expected to be concluded shortly,” according to a notice from Vice-Chairman Jerome Casey III.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Missing and Murdered Unit referred its investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office last month, while Velasquez’s defense attorney did not respond when asked about her client’s primary loss.
This story was produced by KJZZ, the public radio station in Phoenix, and published by KNAU as part of the Arizona Public Media Exchange.
