TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) – The Cherokee Nation Election Commission has certified election results that have Principal Chief Bill John Baker winning a second term at the helm of one of the country’s largest American Indian tribes.
The results from Saturday’s contest were certified at a commission meeting Monday.
Baker won with 55 percent of the vote, easily avoiding a possible runoff because he secured enough votes to put him over the required 50 percent threshold.
Baker beat former Cherokee chief Chad Smith, state Rep. Will Fourkiller, and Charlie Soap, the widower of late Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller.
Baker oversees a tribe of about 320,000 Cherokees, 9,000 employees and a budget nearing $1 billion.
He’ll be inaugurated in August in the tribal capital of Tahlequah.
