The White Mountain Apache Tribe has a new chairman. Thousands of Apaches went to the polls during the general election on Wednesday following a February primary. The chairman-elect hopes his administration can help change direction.
The tribal radio station, KNNB, first announced official results compiled by the election committee late Wednesday. Whiteriver school board member Orlando Carroll won the seat by 80 ballots.
He defeated Gary Alchesay, who gathered 2,069 votes.
“You are the core of the Carroll administration,” said Carroll during a speech with his supporters, stressing, “We’re tired of being last of the 22 tribes in Arizona. We need to get back where we once were. It’s possible, it’s possible.”
Carroll promises stability and a brighter future after the tribe had two different sitting chairmen within recent weeks. The council unanimously voted in late March to oust Kasey Velasquez, who was a lame duck leader by then.
He was accused of sexually harassing the tribe’s HR director.
Then, the former vice-chair, Jerome Kasey III, stepped up to serve as acting chairman until Carroll was picked by more than 4,200 voters during the April general election.
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