“I want to see every Choctaw family overcome poverty, and I know we can accomplish that while ensuring fiscal responsibility.” ‘We didn’t have indoor plumbing in my house until I was 10,” he said in the tribe’s election guide. Platform: Henry’s campaign materials and statements emphasize combatting poverty among Choctaw citizens. “I was born and raised on a cattle ranch in Tamaha, Oklahoma, and my grandparents were on the Dawes Rolls as Choctaw full-blood enrollees.” “I know what it means to be Choctaw,” he is quoted as saying. In his biography within the tribe’s official election guide, Henry emphasized his Choctaw roots. His LinkedIn page also mentions that he served on the Pocola Public Schools Board from 1999-2004. He is also the owner of Henry Diesel Services and, according to his LinkedIn page, is the third-generation proprietor of Henry Farms, which his father and grandfather originally purchased in 1941. He spent more than 30 years in the Oklahoma Highway Patrol before retiring as a troop commander in 2016. Profession/Background: Henry, who currently lives in Pocola, Oklahoma, grew up in Tamaha and graduated from Stigler High School before earning associate degrees from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology and University of Arkansas Fort Smith. Candidates are presented in alphabetical order. The following profiles of the candidates in the three contested districts of the Choctaw Nation Tribal Council were assembled using publicly available information. If no candidate in the District 7 race receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election between the top two general election finishers will be held on a subsequent Saturday, although a specific date is not listed on the Choctaw Nation’s elections page.

More information is available in the tribe’s official election guide. Early voting begins July 9, and same-day registration is available at polling sites.

Once elected, councilmembers serve four-year terms.ĭistricts 4 and 7 are open seats, while District 10 voters will decide between the incumbent and a challenger who says he was improperly stricken from a ballot during the Choctaw Nation’s 2015 chief election.Īll Choctaw citizens who are at least 18 years old are eligible to vote. In three other districts that would usually be scheduled for an election this year - Districts 6, 9 and 12 - the incumbents are running unopposed. Of the 12 district seats that make up nation’s Tribal Council, Districts 4, 7 and 10 are up for grabs in this election. Citizens in three districts of the Choctaw Nation will head to the polls for the 2021 Tribal Council elections Saturday, July 10.

Choctaw casino mcalester cheat sheet