Mississippi Choctaw election update
The absentee ballots are counted and reform challenger Beasley Denson leads seven-term incumbent Phillip Martin by 46 votes. Phillip Martin has been the executive of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians since 1979, and was expected to win an 8th term by a landslide. He and Chad Smith, the second-term incumbent executive of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, are the two last remaining of an original six Jack Abramoff client/contributor tribal executives who still control Indian Gaming operations and rubber stamp legislatures.
Denson has criticized Martin for a lack of management jobs, a serious housing shortage and a stifling environment of secrecy in the 9,660-member tribe spread across 35,000 acres in east central Mississippi, and Martin has never publicly explained his dealings with Abramoff, including the specific financial transactions between the tribe and Abramoff's firm.
Similar issues are present in the Leeds and Vann (reform slate) vs Smith and Grayson ("Team Cherokee") race, with Smith, Grayson and "Team Cherokee" using a large media buy to frame the issue as "tribal sovereignty" vs "federal encroachment", though the better analysis is re-segregation vs American and Cherokee individual and class civil rights.
The run-off between Denson and Martin will take place within 30 days. Ballots have already gone to the Cherokee Nation absentee voters and the balloting will be conducted on June 23rd.
