ACHTUNG: The following is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.

I admit to being astonished by one election result from Tuesday’s primary.

I was surprised that Hopkins Township Supervisor Mark Evans was upended by political novice Cade Bolser. I was even more surprised that Bolser polled 63 percent of the vote and Evans just 37.

That, folks, is a landslide.

It was astonishing because Evans was seeking his eighth four-year term as supervisor in Hopkins Township. He was first elected in 1996 and often was unopposed in subsequent elections or only received token and ineffective challenges in the past.

I should have noticed even more when I attended the July meeting of the Township Board, at which Evans was on the receiving end of significant criticism for the way he cut off public comments or questions for visiting public officials from the audience.

I experienceed this personally at a meeting several years ago when I asked a question of Allegan County Commissioner Gale Dugan, but was quickly told by Evans to wait until the end of the meeting. I muttered under my breath that this was a public meeting and I had every right to ask questions of and get answers from public officials.

But this strange flaw is not the elephant in the room. That pachyderm very clearly is the Gun Lake Tribe of Potowatomis and Gun Lake Casino.

It can be argued that the most anti-tribe public official over the past 25 years has been Evans. At every turn, he has opposed just about everything the Gun Lake Tribe has proposed.

The tribe and casino very clearly have evolved into the most powerful economic entity in eastern Allegan County, no thanks to Evans and Hopkins Township.

The supervisor gave tribal representatives a lot of guff in a public meeting to discuss the Jijak reservation on 20th Street, which nonetheless won approval. Evans personally has refused to show up for the free meal and compact check presentation sponsored by the tribe. When asked what he did when the checks arrived, he simply said he set them aside in his drawer.

His latest escapade was the creation of a downtown development district along the east side of the U.S-131 expressway to pave the way for obtaining sewer and water services. Meanwhile, the tribe’s new water tower stands tall as the casino site just off the Hopkins Bradley exit on the freeway on 129th Avenue.

The tribe and casino have steadily created facilities, services and business, and now they are making plans to expand to the north in Wayland Township. I don’t see how anyone or anything can stop them. The tribe and casino have fought off legal challenges from wealthy businessmen who wanted to establish their own casino, from racist opponents to Native Americans and even from neighbors who won’t stand for developmental and commercial progress in their back yards.

The tribe and casino officials have even tried a little goodwill public relations with Hopkins by providing Fourth of July fireworks. But there was little, if any change as a result.

This isn’t a long shot explanation of the crushing defeat of an incumbent township supervisor. It’s the only explanation that actually makes sense.

Mark Evans pooped the bed in clashes with the tribe and casino over a long period and it was just a matter of time before he was forced to wallow in his own mess.

Evans ignored the best advice: “Don’t mess with the tribe. And don’t mess with the most powerful economic engine in Allegan County.”