Frances Charles wins re-election as Lower Elwha tribal chair
Published 12:01 am Thursday, June 4, 2015
PORT ANGELES — Frances Charles has won overwhelming re-election as chairwoman of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
This will be her 17th year as a member of the tribe’s government.
Results of a May 30 election showed 219 ballots were cast for tribal chair, 154 at the polls and 65 by mail.
The totals:
■ Frances Charles: 111.
■ Russell Hepfer: 62.
■ Steve Joaquin Robideau: 24 .
■ Anthony Charles: 16.
■ Joseph Turrey: Six.
In a wider election for the business committee, commonly called the tribal council, Robideau and Anthony Charles won the highest number of votes — 136 and 68, respectively — and were elected to three-year terms.
Other top candidates included Arlene Wheeler, who received 63 votes; Edward Johnson, 59; Gayla Johnson, 48; Gerald R. Charles, 37; Brandy Williams, 30; and Randy Bennett, 21.
Thirteen additional people received write-in ballots ranging from one to five votes.
Frances Charles, a 1977 graduate of Port Angeles High School, served 12 years with the Olympic National Forest Service as a firefighter.
She led the tribe during the archaeological excavation of its ancestral village Tse-whit-zen on the Port Angeles harborfront, the 2005 Paddle to Elwha Tribal Canoe Journey and the removal of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs on the Elwha River.
