Poll shows Cherokee citizen in tie for governor's race in Oklahoma

Monday, July 30, 2018  

The 2018 election cycle has been a historic one for Native candidates and a Cherokee Nation citizen is riding the wave in Oklahoma.

Kevin Stitt, the founder of a successful mortgage company, is seeking the Republican nomination for governor. Though his campaign biography doesn't mention his tribal affiliation, he has made no secret of his Cherokee roots.

"As a registered Cherokee, I know first-hand what a tremendous benefit the tribes have been to our state, creating tens of thousands of jobs, expanding health care options in rural Oklahoma, and more," Stitt said in response to a MuskogeePolitico survey, when asked about upcoming gaming compact negotiations.

But Stitt still has a big hurdle to clear if he intends to make history as the state's first Native American governor -- to secure the GOP nomination, he must defeat Mick Cornett. a former mayor of Oklahoma City, in an August 28 run-off.. A SoonerPoll released on Saturday shows the candidates in a dead heat as the race enters its final month.

DEAD HEAT: Mick Cornett and Kevin Stitt tied at 37.5 percent in Republican run-off poll | SoonerPoll https://t.co/Bw7ICRasq3 pic.twitter.com/sfSZd6iPV9

— SoonerPoll (@SoonerPoll) July 28, 2018

"It couldn’t get much tighter than this," Bill Shapard, the founder of SoonerPoll, wrote of the results.

Oklahoma, which is home to 39 federally recognized tribes, has never had a Native governor. But Steve Burrage, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, served as State Auditor and Inspector, a statewide elective office, between 2008 and 2011.

Native Americans also have served in the Oklahoma Legislature and in various gubernatorial administrations. And the state boasts the only two tribal citizens in the U.S. Congress -- Rep. Tom Cole (R), who is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, and Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R), who hails from the Cherokee Nation.

Overall, Native Americans represent 9.2 percent of Oklahoma's population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The state ranks second, behind California, in terms of the largest Native populations.

Whoever wins the Republican nomination will face Drew Edmondson, a Democrat and a former attorney general of the state, in the November 6 election. And, as the MuskogeePolitico survey noted, the next governor will be negotiating a new Class III gaming compact because the current agreements start to expire on January 1, 2020.

"When we enter negotiations, I will be looking at what is market (comparable with states around us) with tribal contracts and at what is in the best interest of the entire state of Oklahoma," Stitt told MuskogeePolitico.

Cornett did not respond to the survey. He was the only top GOP candidate who declined to provide written answers.