Chuck Hoskins, Jr. Elected Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation with 57.03 Percent of Votes

Chuck Hoskins. Jr.

Published June 2, 2019

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Nearly 13,500 Cherokee Nation citizens cast a ballot in the 2019 Cherokee Nation General Election as Chuck Hoskin Jr. was elected as the tribe’s newest Principal Chief, according to unofficial voting results.

Hoskin, of Vinita, garnered 7,819 of 13,498 votes or 57.93 percent of ballots cast in the Principal Chief race. Dick Lay received 3,691 votes or 27.34 percent. Tribal Councilor David Walkingstick was disqualified as a candidate for Principal Chief prior to the election for campaign finance law violations.

Voters also elected Bryan Warner, of Sallisaw, as Deputy Principal Chief with 7,940 votes or 59.27 percent. Warner’s opponent Meredith Frailey received 5,457 votes or 40.73 percent.

The Election Commission will process 406 challenge ballots Sunday.

Eight Tribal Council seats were also voted on by Cherokee Nation citizens in districts with seats up for election. Candidates must garner more than 50 percent of the vote to win an election. If no candidate receives the needed amount of votes to win, the top two candidates proceed to a run-off election on Saturday, July 27. The results of the eight Tribal Council election races include:

District 1 (Cherokee and Wagoner counties)
Rex Jordan – 665 – 57.73% (Winner)
Ryan Sierra – 487 – 42.27%

District 3 (Cherokee County)
Deb Proctor – 297 – 29.61% (Run-off Candidate)
Wes Nofire – 295 – 29.41% (Run-off Candidate)
Billy Flint – 122 – 12.16%
RJ Robbins – 104 – 10.37%
Jim Cosby – 91 – 9.07%
Larry Dean Pritchett – 78 – 7.78%
Brandon Girty – 16 – 1.60%

District 6 (Sequoyah County)
Daryl Legg – 772 – 57.10% (Winner)
Gary Trad Lattimore – 448 – 33.14%
Ron Goff – 132 – 9.76%

District 8 (Adair County)
Shawn Crittenden – 566 – 82.87% (Winner)
Ralph Keen II – 77 – 11.27%

District 12 (Nowata, Rogers, Tulsa and Washington counties)
Dora L. Smith Patzkowski – 211 – 33.07% (Run-off Candidate)
Phyllis Lay – 191 – 29.94% (Run-off Candidate)
Todd M. Branstetter – 146 – 22.88%
Don Scott – 90 – 14.11%

District 13 (Rogers and Tulsa counties)
Joe Deere (Winner)

District 14 (Rogers and Tulsa counties)
Keith Austin – 558 – 57.33% (Winner)
Cara Cowan Watts – 412 – 42.47%

At-Large
Julie Coates – 977 – 45.36% (Run-off Candidate)
Johnny Jack Kidwell – 663 – 30.78% (Run-off Candidate)
Steve Adair – 347 – 16.11%
Pamela Fox – 140 – 6.50%

Cherokee Nation Election Commission officials will hold a meeting next week to certify the unofficial results.

According to the Cherokee Nation Election Commission, more than 73,000 Cherokee citizens are registered to vote. More than 950 participated in early voting and about 9,000 requested absentee ballots.