CHEROKEE, N.C. (AP) – Principal Chief Michell Hicks has won a third term as leader of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Hicks defeated challenger Patrick Lambert Thursday by a count if 2,124 to 1,988. The victory made Hicks the first chief to win a third term in five decades.

The election marked the rematch of the 2007 race.

Hicks said he will work on social services, a new jail, expanded gaming, economic development and housing in the next four years for the tribe.

The Eastern Band is one of two major Cherokee tribal communities in the United States along with the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.