List of Candidates
The window for open seats at the 2026 Tanana Chiefs Conference Annual Convention and Full Board of Directors Meeting closed on Thursday, February 26th at 5:00 pm.
Below is a preliminary list of candidates. Elections will take place Thursday, March 12th during the TCC Annual Convention and Full Board of Directors Meeting.
Chief/Chairman 3-year term (2026–2029)
- Brian Ridley, Eagle
- Sharon Hildebrand, Nulato
- Darrel Hildebrand, Nulato
Subregional Positions
Upper Tanana Subregion 3-year term (2026–2029)
- Chief Herbert Demit, Tanacross
- Chief William Chaaiy Albert, Northway
Yukon Koyukuk Subregion 3-year term (2026–2029)
- Chief Maurice McGinty, Nulato
- Chief Charlie Green, Louden
𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱
Yukon Flats Subregion 3-year term (2026–2029)
- Patricia Salmon, Chalkyitsik
- Jacqueline Carroll, Fort Yukon
Yukon Tanana Subregion 3-year term (2026–2029)
- Phyillis Erhart, Tanana
Upper Kuskokwim Subregion 3-year term (2026–2029)
- No Candidates Declared
Yukon Tanana Subregion 3-year term (2026–2029)
- No Candidates Declared
Yukon Flats Subregion 3-year term (2026–2029)
- No Candidates Declared
Board of Commissioners
Seat E 3-year term (2026–2029)
- Kristen Moreland, Gwichyaa Zhee
- Patricia MacDonald, Dot Lake
- Speedy Sam, Huslia
Beverly Kokrine, Huslia– WITHDRAWN- Shane Derendoff, Huslia
Eligibility Criteria
- Must be a current village director, as authorized by Tribal/village resolution. (Article 4, Section 2)
- Must be residents of the State of Alaska and Alaska Native Members of member villages of the corporation. (Article 4, Section 1)
- Full Time employees of the corporation shall not be eligible to serve as Directors or officers of the corporation with exception of the Chief/Chairman. (Article 4, Section 2)
- Compliance with the TCC Board of Directors’ Drug and Alcohol Free Policy #50-5001 applies to all TCC Executive and Health Board of Directors, with the exception of the Chief/Chairman of the Board who is an employee who follows the employee policy.
- Must successfully pass the ICPA and (DHSS) Alaska Barrier Crimes Act Background check. (See also Executive Board Policy 50-5003). Executive and Health board candidates must turn in a completed and correct background check application to Human Resources by February 13th to guarantee background checks will be completed by February 26th. Individuals contemplating running for a board position should turn in a background check application immediately to ensure the ability to make corrections to mistakes in the lengthy application. All background check applications will be confidential and only Human Resources will have access to the application and the names of individuals. Those individuals that do not submit complete paperwork or fail to pass a background check will not be eligible candidates for the TCC Chief/Chairman, Executive Board or Health Board positions.
- Officers must be Alaska Native members of a member village of the corporation and eligible to be selected as a Director of a member village. (Article 5, Section 1)
- Compliance with the TCC Board of Directors’ Drug and Alcohol Free Policy #50-5001 applies to all TCC Executive and Health Advisory Board of Directors. All candidates must take and pass a drug test prior to their respective spring 2026 Subregional Advisory Board Meetings, according to this policy in order to serve their term if elected.
- Must be eligible to serve on TCC Board of Directors
NOTE: Employees of TCC or IRHA are not eligible to serve as IRHA Commissioners (Article 7, Section7)
Background Check Information
TCC Executive and Health Board of Directors must successfully pass a federal ICPA background check, and the Alaska Barrier Crimes Act background check.
The TCC Executive Board has made the commitment to both comply with current laws, Board policies and advocate for reasonable changes in background check requirements. As part of compliance, TCC Executive Board and Health Board candidates must submit their complete background check application which includes fingerprints by February 13th submitted to the Human Resources Director. This allows enough time for the check to be completed. Only those candidates that successfully pass the background check will be eligible to continue as official candidates for the respective elections.
RULE 10. MAJORITY VOTE REQUIRED
To be elected to a position, nominees are required to receive a majority vote from the votes cast by the TCC Board of Delegates. If no nominee receives a majority vote on a ballot, the Election Committee shall conduct a subsequent ballot provided by these Election Rules until a nominee receives a majority vote.
RULE 11. FAILURE TO ACHIEVE MAJORITY
In the event of a tie occurring for a Subregional seat after the third ballot, a coin toss will occur to determine the outcome of the election.
Ballots where there are four (4) nominees or more. If no nominee receives a majority vote on the first ballot the following rules will apply with the intent to eliminate candidates to achieve a majority:
- The Election Committee will eliminate all nominees except for the three (3) nominees receiving the highest number of votes and conduct a subsequent ballot.
- If there are three (3) or more candidates that receive the second highest number of votes, all those with the second highest number of votes will proceed to the next ballot including the candidate with the most votes. The remaining candidates will be eliminated.
- If there is a tie for candidates with the third highest vote and there are two (2) or more candidates that receive the first and/or second highest number of votes, only the two (2) or more candidates that receive the highest number of votes will proceed to the next ballot. The rest will be eliminated.
- If there are more than three (3) candidates tied for first highest vote, all of those receiving the first highest will proceed to the next ballot. The rest will be eliminated.
- If all but one candidate ties for second, the Election Committee will distribute an “elimination ballot” that includes only the nominees who tied for second. The Election Committee will eliminate the one nominee receiving the lowest number of votes on the “elimination ballot” and resume the balloting between all remaining nominees.
Ballots where there are three (3) nominees. If no nominee receives a majority vote on a ballot having three (3) nominees, the Election Committee will eliminate the one nominee receiving the lowest number of votes, and conduct a subsequent ballot. If all three (3) nominees tie for the votes cast, the Election Committee shall conduct a subsequent ballot including all nominees. If two nominees tie for the fewest votes cast, the Committee will distribute an “elimination ballot’ that includes only the two nominees who tied for the fewest votes cast on the prior ballot. The Election Committee will eliminate the one nominee receiving the lowest number of votes on the “elimination ballot” and resume the balloting between all remaining nominees.
Ballots with two (2) nominees. The nominee receiving a majority vote shall be elected. If neither nominee receives a majority vote, the Election Committee will prepare another ballot without elimination of the nominee receiving the fewer votes. This Election Committee will repeat this process as necessary until one nominee receives a majority vote.
** Majority is based on the number of Directors present for the 2026 Full Board of Director’s roll call.