Marilynn House won a seat on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council during a runoff election in Towaoc, according to unofficial results announced Wednesday.
The long-awaited Towaoc councilwoman won after two previous ties with candidate Evelyn Lopez in October. House is the latest addition to a council during what many acknowledge as a new period in Ute Mountain Ute leadership.
House received 191 votes Wednesday, compared with 164 for her competitor, Evelyn Lopez. Two votes were deemed invalid. Both candidates were tied in the tribe’s Oct. 10 election at 116 votes each, and again in a recount on Oct. 16 at 115 votes.
“Thank you so much for seeing what you saw in me,” House said during the election livestream minutes after her unofficial win was announced. “I’m going to take on these challenges with you and for you.”
House joins three other newly elected officials expected to serve on the seven-person tribal council during the significant leadership shift.
In Towaoc, she will serve with incumbent Councilman Conrad Jacket, who won with 150 out of 813 votes during the Oct. 16 recount. House also joins Gwen Cantsee, who won as a representative of the tribe’s White Mesa community with 49 of 65 votes.
Her unofficial win means she’ll also be seated with newly elected Chairman Selwyn Whiteskunk, who received 156 out of 504 votes. Whiteskunk succeeds sitting Chairman Manuel Heart, who has served on the council for nearly three decades.
House brings experience in tribal government, having previously served as the chairman’s secretary, said Election Board Chair Constance Wall.
House’s competitor, Evelyn Lopez, also has experience, having formerly served as a secretary for the tribal council, Wall said.
House’s win will be made official on Nov. 3, if the results face no challenges, such as a recount request from Lopez, according to Wall.
Wall said the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council inauguration is planned for Nov. 7 at the Ute Mountain Ute Casino and Hotel.
“I will be having a meeting with the new incoming council, including the outgoing council this coming Friday, just to have a transition process,” Chairman Heart said during the livestream.
Priorities moving forward need to be addressed, he said.
The tribe has five formal priorities it’s already taken on, Heart told The Journal this month: health care, housing, education, economic development and natural resources.
Councilor Alston Turtle said reviewing the tribe’s objectives will be an important task for the elected representatives.
“We see how many policies are so outdated in tribes – not just our tribe, but every tribe out there,” said Turtle. “So now is where the work really begins after inauguration.”
Turtle pointed out challenges ahead for the new council, especially during a federal government shutdown.
The tribe, like much of the country, is experiencing the impacts of the SNAP freeze, Turtle said. The tribe is working with other food providers to bring aid to the community, he added.
Turtle said division and negativity within the tribe need to be addressed moving forward.
As a sign of that division, election counts this year were not open to the public due to widely acknowledged tension on the reservation.
“I say this respectably, council members, new council members, old council members, tribal members, let’s work for a better future for our people.”
