2019 Muscogee (Creek) general elections

2019 Muscogee (Creek) Nation General Elections
September 21, 2019 (Primary, nullified)
November 2, 2019 (Primary)
December 14, 2019 (General)
Candidate David Hill Steve Bruner
Popular vote 3,399 1,779
Percentage 65.6% 34.4%

Principal Chief before election

James R. Floyd

Elected Principal Chief

David Hill

The 2019 Muscogee (Creek) general elections took place on November 2, 2019, to elect the Principal Chief, Second Chief, and half of the 16 National Council seats of the Muscogee Nation. The primary election was held on September 21 and in races where no one candidate won a majority of the votes, the top candidates moved on to the November general election.[1] Muscogee (Creek) National general elections are held on the Saturday immediately following the first Friday of November every four years. Enrolled citizens, 18 years of age and above are eligible to register to vote in the elections. Incumbent Principal Chief James R. Floyd announced in June 2019 that he would not seek re-election and Second Chief Louis Hicks was unable to seek re-election due to term limits.[2]

Because of irregularities, the primary election results were nullified and November 2 became the new primary election date with general election runoffs, when necessary, being held on December 14, 2019. National Council Second Speaker David Hill was the top vote-getter in the November primary and was elected principal chief in the December general election runoff; National Council Representative Del Beaver was elected second chief outright in the November primary. Hill and Beaver had both received the most votes in the nullified September primary.[3]

Candidate Eligibility

Muscogee (Creek) Nation Territory
Eligible Voters[4]
District Number of Voters
Creek 2,091
McIntosh 2,135
Muskogee 1,179
Okfuskee 1,729
Okmulgee 3,940
Tukvptce 1,540
Tulsa 3,468
Wagoner 847
Total 16,929

Employees of Muscogee (Creek) nation that file for candidacy must file for a leave of absence from their employment from the day they file for candidacy until the day after the elections.[4]

Candidates

Important Election Dates[4]
Candidate Filing Period July 15 - July 17
Early Primary Voting September 18&19
Primary Election September 21
Early General Voting October 30&31
General Election November 2

Principal Chief

Candidate name Slogan Notes
Steve Bruner Better with Bruner Former Speaker of National Council
David Hill Prosperity and Progress for All Mvskokvlke Current National Council representative for the Creek District
George Tiger Former principal chief
Monte Randall #DR4Chief Former Dean of Academic Affairs at Tribal College
Lucian Tiger III National Council Speaker
Joseph Rogers Jr. Tulsa construction business owner
Brenda Golden Okmulgee attorney
Jackie Jackson Planning Director for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe
Timothy Good Voice Thlopthlocco Tribal Town Administrator
Samuel Alexander Tulsa District Representative

Second Chief

Candidate name Notes
Del Beaver Okmulgee District Representative
Adam Jones III McIntosh District Representative

National Council

Creek District A McIntosh District A Muskogee District A Okfuskee District A Okmulgee District A Tukvpvtce District A Tulsa District A Wagoner District A
Joseph Hicks

Dode Warrington Barnett

Dean Hughes Jr.

Darrell Proctor

Charles Colbert

Mary Crawford

Lora Harjo-King

Jessina Brown

Randall Hicks

Bert Robinson

Grover Wind

Carmin Tecumseh-Williams

William Lowe

Patrick Moore

Brian Jones

Rufus Scott

Edwin Marshall

Anna Marshall

Jerry Wilson

Cynthia Tiger

Robert Hufft

Dierdra Soap

Pamela Snyder-Osmun

Charles McHenry

Terri Jorgensen

Source:[5]

Nullified Primary Elections

On September 21, the primary elections took place with nearly 5,000 voters. On September 28, the election board announced the official results.[6] On October 2, the MCN Supreme Court nullified the results of the MCN Primary Election following receipt of petitions alleging fraud, irregularities, and recount of absentee ballots.[7] The MCN election board announced November 2 as the new primary election date.[8]

Principal Chief

CandidateVotes%
David Hill1,27225.44
Bim Steve Bruner1,03920.78
Lucian Tiger1,02920.58
Monte Randal61712.34
Timothy Good Voice3066.12
Brenda Golden2615.22
Jackie Jackson1683.36
George Tiger1352.70
Samuel Alexander1252.50
Joseph Rogers480.96
Total5,000100.00

Second Chief

CandidateVotes%
Del Beaver3,06563.05
Adam Jones1,79636.95
Total4,861100.00

National Council

District Candidate Votes %
Creek (Seat A)Dean Hughes1,81938.66
Joseph Hicks1,49231.71
Dode Warrington-Barnett1,39429.63
McIntosh (Seat A)Darrell Proctor3,18068.64
Charles Colbert1,45331.36
Muskogee (Seat A)Lora Harjo-King1,89141.45
Mary Crawford1,70837.44
Jessina Brown96321.11
Okfuskee (Seat A)Randall Hicks3,03165.65
Bert Robison1,58634.35
Okmulgee (Seat A)Carmin Tecumseh-Williams1,38428.99
William Lowe1,05922.18
Grover Wind1,05622.12
Brian Jones67714.18
Patrick Moore59812.53
Tukvpvtce (Seat A)Anna Marshall1,63735.00
Rufus Scott1,59634.12
Edwin Marshall1,44430.87
Tulsa (Seat A)Robert Hufft2,97463.04
Cynthia Tiger1,05322.32
Jerry Wilson69114.65
Wagoner (Seat A)Charles McHenry2,04243.74
Dierdra Soap1,41030.20
Terri Jorgensen83917.97
Pamela Snyder-Osmun3788.10

Results

The November 2 primary election resulted in no changes in the winner of each race. In the Tulsa District Seat A race, Cynthia Tiger and Jerry Wilson withdrew after the Sept. 21 primary, leaving the incumbent, Robert Hufft as the winner of that race. In the Okfuskee and McIntosh races, the winning candidate received a super majority and avoided the need to participate in the general elections. Del Beaver defeated Adam Jones III 3,480 votes to 1,535 which meant that the second chief election would not be held during the general election.[9]

On December 14, the general election was held and three days later on December 17, 2019 the unofficial final election results were released showing David Hill as the front runner for the Principal Chief race. The results became official on December 20 and on January 1, 2020 winning candidates were sworn in to their position at the MCN Council House in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. On January 4, 2020 an inauguration ceremony was held at the River Spirit Casino Resort to commemorate the election of new Executive Branch leaders.[10][11]

Principal Chief

CandidatePrimaryGeneral
Votes%Votes%
David Hill1,96638.273,39965.64
Bim Steve Bruner1,17222.811,77934.36
Lucian Tiger III1,16122.60
Monte Randal4969.66
Timothy Good Voice2544.94
Samuel Alexander881.71
Total5,137100.005,178100.00
Source: [12][13]

Second Chief

CandidateVotes%
Del Beaver3,48069.39
Adam Jones III1,53530.61
Total5,015100.00
Source: [12]

National Council

District Candidate Primary General
Votes % Votes %
Creek (Seat A)Joseph Hicks1,76036.252,52051.54
Dean Hughes1,68734.752,36948.46
Dode Warrington-Barnett1,40829.00
McIntosh (Seat A)Darrell Proctor3,34769.76
Charles Colbert1,45130.24
Muskogee (Seat A)Lora Harjo-King2,16545.632,40349.47
Mary Crawford1,74636.802,45450.53
Jessina Brown83417.58
Okfuskee (Seat A)Randall Hicks3,24267.39
Bert Robison1,56932.61
Okmulgee (Seat A)Carmin Tecumseh-Williams1,50930.832,41849.13
William Lowe1,24825.502,50450.87
Grover Wind1,14923.47
Brian Jones55411.32
Patrick Moore4358.89
Tukvpvtce (Seat A)Anna Marshall1,89039.152,84658.48
Rufus Scott1,56732.462,02141.52
Edwin Marshall1,37028.38
Tulsa (Seat A)Robert HufftUnopposed
Wagoner (Seat A)Charles McHenry2,32848.072,77556.74
Dierdra Soap1,71235.352,11643.26
Terri Jorgensen80316.58
Source:[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ "Ten Candidates Vying to Lead Muscogee (Creek) Nation". www.publicradiotulsa.org. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ Krehbiel-Burton, Lenzy (July 24, 2019). "Creek Nation election board OKs candidates". Tulsa World. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  3. ↑ Krehbiel-Burton, Lenzy (December 15, 2019). "David Hill wins Muscogee (Creek) Nation principal chief runoff, according to unofficial results". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Election Board – Muscogee (Creek) Nation". Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  5. ↑ Mvskokeuser. "2019 Official Candidate List – Muscogee (Creek) Nation". Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  6. ↑ Mvskokeuser. "Muscogee (Creek) Nation Primary Election Results – Muscogee (Creek) Nation". Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  7. ↑ Gray, Liz. "MCN Supreme Court calls for new election – Muscogee (Creek) Nation". Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  8. ↑ Mvskokeuser. "MCN Election Board sets date for new Primary Election – Muscogee (Creek) Nation". Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  9. ↑ World, Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton For the Tulsa. "Muscogee (Creek) Nation primary elections yield same results for chief candidates after 2nd vote". Tulsa World. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  10. ↑ Mvskokeuser. "Unofficial Results Announced in Muscogee (Creek) Nation General Election – Muscogee (Creek) Nation". Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  11. ↑ World, Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton For the Tulsa. "David Hill wins Muscogee (Creek) Nation principal chief runoff, according to unofficial results". Tulsa World. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 "2019 PRIMARY ELECTION" (PDF). Muscogee (Creek) Nation Election Board.
  13. 1 2 "2019 GENERAL ELECTION" (PDF). Muscogee (Creek) Nation Election Board.