NEW TOWN (AP) - One of the more hotly contested political races in North Dakota this fall has nothing to do with state or national office.

Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes the past eight years, is facing a stiff challenge from tribal Vice Chairman Marcus Wells Jr., a tribal councilman the past eight years.

In the Sept. 19 tribal primary, Hall received 485 votes, and Wells 607. Tribal members will pick one of the two in the Nov. 7 general election.

Hall, who has made a name for himself nationally by serving as president of the National Congress of American Indians, said he wants an unprecedented third term as tribal chairman to finish the projects he has started. They include a new health-care facility on the Fort Berthold Reservation, a refinery proposed for the Makoti area and a new tribal constitution.

Hall said he also wants to get the tribe's finances in order.

"What's in that new constitution is a balanced budget act that says whatever our budget is, if it's $10 million, $20 million or $50 million a year, you can only spend within that," he said.

Wells says change is needed to ensure the tribes' survival as a sovereign nation.

"As far as the funds and the revenue, those are sometimes out of the tribes' hands. But as far as the earnings of the tribes, we need to have somebody who dedicates themself to that," he said.

Wells said he also would make health care a priority on the reservation. But he believes the tribal constitution should be left alone. "It's not broken," he said.

The Three Affiliated Tribes has about 12,000 enrolled members, many of whom live off the reservation.