Unofficial results: Baker re-elected to lead Cherokee Nation
Source: Associated Press
Unofficial results: Baker re-elected to lead Cherokee Nation
By ALLEN REED, Associated Press | June 28, 2015 | Updated: June 28, 2015 6:11pm
The Cherokee Nation re-elected Principal Chief Bill John Baker on Sunday, according to preliminary results, calming concerns that a four-candidate field would result in another tumultuous election to lead one of the largest American Indian tribes.
The tribal election commission released the unofficial results early Sunday and later began processing about 700 contested ballots at the tribal capital of Tahlequah, about 75 miles east of Tulsa. If the results hold, Baker will have won a second term at the helm of the tribe, with about 320,000 citizens and 9,000 employees. He will control a budget nearing $1 billion and oversee the tribe's lucrative casino and hotel businesses as well as managing the country's largest tribal health care system.
Baker said the uncounted votes aren't enough to change the outcome and fully expects to avoid the hostilities and recounts that marred the 2011 election.
"We believe it will stand," Baker told the Associated Press on Sunday. "I don't see any other plan other than to go forward and continue progress."
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Unofficial-results-Baker-re-elected-to-lead-6354510.php
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Chief Bill John Baker in the middle. [/center]
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