Choctaw Nation Election Board announces 2023 candidates

Derrick James, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
Updated ·2 min read

Apr. 20—The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma released Wednesday the prospective candidates for tribal elections following a three-day filing period.

Out of the six tribal council seats up for election this year, only one area council seat is up for election in July — District 11.

Incumbent District 11 Councilman Robert Karr is being challenged by Nellie Meashintubby.

Karr was first elected to serve the district in 2019 after defeating longtime councilman Bob Pate. Karr was declared the winner of the election after Pate dropped out of the election prior to a runoff election.

Meashintubby ran against Karr and Pate and finished third in the 2019 election. Meashintubby challenged the Choctaw Nation Election Board's decision to declare Karr the winner. The petition filed by Meashintubby argued the proper procedure to determine a winner of an election is through a runoff between the two remaining candidates.

The Choctaw Nation Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the election board's decision.

Other council seats within the tribe's 12-person council that are up for election this year are Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 along with chief.

Gary Batton was appointed the tribe's 47th chief following the retirement of Gregory E. Pyle in 2014. He won his election in 2015 and ran unopposed for the seat in 2019.

Batton is running unopposed for the office of Chief of the Choctaw Nation.

District 1 Councilman Thomas Williston and District 5 Councilman Ronald Perry will also run unopposed in their bids for re-election.

Tony Ward, the incumbent district 2 councilor, is being challenged by Brent Minter.

District 3 is a three-way race between incumbent Eddie Bohanan, Kay Hearing, and Archie Meashintubby.

Larry Wade is challenging incumbent Perry Thompson for the District 8 seat.

Prospective candidates for the 2023 tribal elections have until Friday at 4:30 p.m. to contest the candidacy of a candidate in the same race.

A meeting for prospective candidates will be held Tuesday, April 25 at 4 p.m. at the Conference Center Tuklo Chito (Big Room 2) #1711 at the Choctaw Nation Headquarters in Durant.

Mail-in ballots will begin to be mailed to registered voters on Sat. June 17 with the early voting on July 7 and the general election scheduled for July 8.

More information on how Choctaw Nation tribal members can register to vote can be found by visiting www.choctawnation.com/elections.