Mark Brown seeking to return to Mohegan Tribal Council in ongoing voting
Mohegan — Mark Brown, the former long-serving Mohegan Tribal Council member who lost a 2019 reelection bid and then won a special election that later was invalidated and lost the do-over, is seeking to return to the council in ongoing voting among tribal members.
The voting concludes Sunday.
Brown confirmed this week he is among the candidates for five seats up for election to the nine-member council, which oversees tribal government and serves as the management board of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, which operates the tribe’s gaming enterprises, including Mohegan Sun, its flagship casino.
Four incumbents — Chairman James Gessner Jr., Sarah Harris, William Quidgeon Jr. and Ken Davison — are seeking new, four-year terms. A fifth incumbent, Kathy Regan-Pyne, is not running for reelection.
A field of candidates was narrowed to 10 in primary voting earlier this year. In addition to the four incumbents, the other candidates are Brown, Bethany Seidel, Kim Strickland, Brian Bozsum, Chris Friday and David Rubino.
Brown, who served as council chairman from 2000 to 2005, was nearing the end of his sixth term when he lost his bid for a seventh in August 2019. Less than four months later, he won a special election held to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of his brother, former Chairman Kevin Brown. Mark Brown won the special election in a three-way race, edging Davison by a single vote.
Davison and another tribal member challenged the result, filing suit in tribal court and petitioning the tribe’s election committee and its elders’ council. They claimed the vote should be invalidated because tribal members had not been properly notified in advance that voting hours had been shortened, costing Davison two votes. The elders’ council, the tribe’s ultimate judicial authority, invalidated the special election and scheduled a new vote, which took place March 15, 2020.
Davison prevailed over Mark Brown in the new election.
The four council members whose seats are not up for election are Thayne Hutchins Jr., Joseph Soper, John Harris and Patricia LaPierre.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
