The primary election for the Eastern Band of Cherokee’s Tribal Council starts today. Tribal Council is the legislative branch of the sovereign nation’s government on the Qualla Boundary.
The tribe’s over 16,000 members vote in the election, but the policies from the council impact the broader Western North Carolina region. The tribe is an economic powerhouse in the region with more than $2 billion in annual revenue at two casinos, as well as other enterprises like North Carolina’s only legal marijuana dispensary that opened in 2024.
All 12 tribal council seats are up for re-election every two years, explains publisher of the tribally-owned Cherokee One Feather newspaper Robert Jumper.
“The tribal council, for our purposes here at the tribe, is the legislative branch of government. They make the laws,” Jumper said. “Tribal council also goes a little bit further, the Cherokee charter allows them lots to take care of any land deals that belong to the boundary, which is usually either a judicial or an executive branch decision outside of the tribe.”
There are six communities represented on the council: Painttown, Yellowhill, Birdtown, Big Cove, Wolftown/Big Y and Cherokee County/Snowbird. The One Feather has reported that there won’t be a primary for Wolftown or Paintown because there aren’t enough candidates.
Voters will choose between four candidates for the two seats during the General Election in September.
Jumper says that there is a mixture of candidates on the ballot.
“Most of the incumbents have chosen to run again. We had one drop out for medical reasons. The rest of the field is community members that have been around a while,” Jumper said.
Right now, there are no women on Tribal Council, but this election could change that fact because there are seven women on the ballot for the primary.
Eighteen candidates shared bios with the One Feather (that you can read here) out of the 24 candidates on the ballot. The full list is below.
The Cherokee Supreme Court has weighed in on one primary candidate. The court reversed the Cherokee Board of Election’s decision to disqualify Former Chief Patrick Lambert from running for tribal council, the One Feather reported.
Lambert was impeached in 2017 and found guilty of eight articles of impeachment, ranging from contract violations to changing the tribal organizational structure without Tribal Council approval.
Jumper explained that Lambert had previously not been allowed to run for tribal council because a section of Cherokee Code specified that leaders who are impeached cannot run again. Lambert represented himself in court to argue this is a violation of the Cherokee Charter, the tribe’s overarching law.
There are three criteria to run for office in the charter, Jumper explained, being located on the land, being of a certain age and being Cherokee.
“The court decided that indeed the charter had precedence over everything because the tribal code flows from the charter. So if it conflicts with the charter, then it's null,” Jumper said.
Lambert was then added to the ballot by the Supreme Court.
The One Feather has scheduled a series of debates with the winners of the primary in August.
Here’s the full list of candidates provided by the One Feather:
Aniwodihi (Painttown) candidates: Bill Taylor, Sean “Michael” Stamper (incumbent), Jeff Thompson, and Shannon Swimmer.
Elawodi (Yellowhill) candidates: David Wolfe (incumbent), Tom Wahnehtah (incumbent), Chris Reed, Shennelle Feather, and T.W. (Price) Saunooke.
Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) candidates: Boyd Owle (incumbent), Jim Owle (incumbent), Travis K. Smith, Joi Owle and Patrick Lambert.
Tutiyi/Tsalagi Gadugi (Cherokee County/Snowbird) candidates: Janell Rattler, Adam Wachacha (incumbent), Buck Brown (incumbent), Erik Oswalt, and Michael Smoker.
Kolanvyi (Big Cove) candidates: Richard French (incumbent), Karen Holiday, Simon Montelongo, Perry Shell (incumbent), Venita K. Wolfe, Lavita “Muffin” Hill, and Mary Welch Thompson. Wayohi/Widagalinidisgv
(Wolftown/Big Y) candidates: Bo Crowe (incumbent), Joey Owle, Mike Parker (incumbent), and Glenn Bradley.
Additional elections are being held for Cherokee Central School Board of Education. School Board candidates for Tsisqwohi representation are Melanie Lambert (incumbent) and Gloria Rattler. School Board candidates for Wayohi representation are Berdie Toinetta and Timmy Ray Smith. No one filed for the Kolanvyi School Board seat that will be vacated at the end of this term.
