Cherokee Chief Baker Re-Elected To Second Term
Cherokee Chief Bill John Baker wins second term, unofficial results show
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
TAHLEQUAH — There was no repeat of 2011 in Saturday’s Cherokee Nation election for principal chief. The expected slugfest between incumbent Bill John Baker and former Chief Chad Smith never materialized. Even the addition of two other candidates, Will Fourkiller and Charlie Soap, did not greatly complicate the outcome.
Baker, according to unofficial results posted just after dawn Sunday, won a second term with 53 percent of the vote to just 28 percent for Smith. Fourkiller, a state representative from Stilwell, got 10 percent and community activist Charlie Soap got 9 percent.
Also re-elected was Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden.
“We’re going to continue on with what we’re doing,” Baker said in the wee hours of Sunday morning, when asked what a second Baker term might look like. “We have a lot of projects in the works, and there might be some things that come along.”