Incumbent Tribal Councilor Johnny Jack Kidwell will face three challengers during the June 7 election to represent the Cherokee Nation at large — with one hailing all the way from Hawaii.
William Crowder, Jonathan Carter and Brandi Ross are attempting to unseat Kidwell from the Tribal Council. The Cherokee Nation’s legislative branch is comprised of 17 councilors, with 15 living within the nation’s jurisdictional boundaries and two councilors elected to represent those living outside its borders. As of a 2024 report, the Cherokee Nation had 466,181 citizens, with 319,594 — nearly 68.6 percent of the nation’s citizenry — living outside the nation’s reservation. Of those living outside the reservation, 136,640 live elsewhere in Oklahoma. While each district within the reservation represents about 10,000 Cherokee citizens, at-large councilors represent much larger constituencies.
Representing the hundreds of thousands of citizens who do not live in the Cherokee Nation, at-large representatives can be from anywhere in the country. All four candidates for the seat up for grabs June 7 are originally from Oklahoma, but Ross currently lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.
If a candidate does not receive a majority of the June 7 vote, a runoff will occur between the two candidates with the highest number of votes on July 26. Councilors serve four-year terms.
The following candidate cheat sheet is based on publicly available information, such as campaign websites, news reports, social media and a candidate Q&A published by the Cherokee Phoenix. The candidates are presented in alphabetical order.
Jonathan Carter
Age: 44
Hometown:Â Fletcher (Comanche County)
Profession/background: Jonathan Carter is a U.S. Army veteran and former attorney, according to his campaign website. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, but is not currently a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association.
Platform: Carter is critical of the Cherokee Nation’s reliance on federal government funding for many of its programs.
“The Cherokee Nation is being tested. Federal budget cuts threaten the services that our people rely on. But this is not the moment to shrink back. It is our moment to lead,” Cater said in a YouTube video. “Now is the time to build a truly sovereign Cherokee Nation. A nation not dependent on the whims of Washington, but powered by our own innovation, our own businesses and our own resolve.”
Additionally, Carter has criticized his tribe for contracting with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to work with unaccompanied minors who enter the United States, alleging that the nation’s actions constitute “human trafficking.”
“In recent years, Cherokee Nation Businesses and its federal contracting arm, Cherokee Federal, have accepted millions of dollars in contracts to support the processing of unaccompanied migrant children — children who, in many cases, were later handed over to traffickers and criminal networks,” Carter wrote on X. “The Cherokee people know what it means to have our children taken. We remember the boarding schools. We remember the Indian Adoption Project. We remember when government systems separated our families under the guise of ‘care.’ So how can we — of all nations — justify taking part in an operation that has enabled the trafficking of children?”
Last July, the Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs, a conservative think tank, published an article accusing Cherokee Federal, a business owned by the Cherokee Nation, of releasing “unaccompanied minors who illegally enter the United States” to “child traffickers.” U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a 91-year-old with legislative privilege who cannot be sued for defamation for official remarks, raised the allegations and was not quiet about his displeasure with the tribe’s response.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), on the other hand, has maintained Cherokee Federal is not involved in child trafficking. Similar claims about human trafficking were made by Wes Nofire during his 2023 principal chief campaign and denounced by Council Speaker Mike Shambaugh in a Cherokee Phoenix op-ed.
Online:Â Website | YouTube | X/Twitter | Instagram | Personal FacebookÂ
William Crowder
Age: 43
Hometown: Oklahoma City
Profession/background:Â According to his website, William Crowder studied economics at the University of Central Oklahoma. His website says he has more than 16 years in tribal and federal government experience, and although he does not clarify what that experience entails, he told the Cherokee Phoenix, “I have been part of and managed large groups of people across the country for over 15 years.” He is a member of the Starr family.
Platform:Â Crowder’s website includes a multitude of policy ideas sorted into five main categories: upholding tribal sovereignty, improving citizen well-being, federal relations, cultural preservation and investing in the future. Among his many objectives, Crowder hopes to mandate tribal consultation in state or federal decisions affecting Cherokee lands, resources or rights and expand the Tribal Employment Rights Office to ensure fair wages in economic projects and monitor compliance for federal contractors operating in the Cherokee Nation.
Crowder also has ideas explicitly catered to citizens living outside the Cherokee Nation through regional outreach, quarterly virtual town halls with language English-Cherokee interpretation services and “[reforming] voting systems to examine the potential of using secure online ballots for off-reservation citizens.”
Education is one of Crowder’s biggest focuses, both for children and adults. He advocates beginning a Cherokee language immersion program in each district of the nation, expanding scholarship programs, building community centers with traditional medicine workshops and developing cultural recreation programs with stickball leagues, archery lessons and other workshops.
“Other council members have, in the past, outlined their central ideas, but accomplishments don’t always align with those promises,” Crowder said on his website. “Their records, though, are still impressive and they deserve credit for those achievements. However, I believe setting a clear and achievable agenda is crucial, and you deserve a representative who can deliver on their commitments.”
Johnny Jack Kidwell (incumbent)
Age:Â 54
Hometown:Â Tulsa
Profession/background:Â Raised in Spavinaw, Johnny Jack Kidwell enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1991 and retired more than 20 years later as a lieutenant commander, according to his councilor biography. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Oklahoma and three master’s degrees, one from the OU College of Law in Indigenous peoples law, one from San Diego State University in education and one from Southern Nazarene University in business administration.
Platform: Kidwell’s website lists his first-term accomplishments, including expanding language initiatives, health care assistance programs, scholarships and clothing assistance to at-large citizens. He also supports expanding other initiatives, including a sports team funding program, a livestock sale funding program, and the emergency utility assistance program to at-large citizens living in counties contiguous to the Cherokee Nation’s jurisdictional borders.
Kidwell also founded Cherokee Nation At Large Mutual Assistance, a nonprofit mutual aid group for at-large citizens.
“There are many changes we have helped facilitate the past four years in the Cherokee Nation community,” Kidwell wrote on his website. “We together have accomplished much, but there is still work to be done.”
Kidwell’s second-term priorities include creating a Medicaid and Medicare premium assistance for elders, a telehealth program for at-large citizens and new scholarship opportunities for at-large citizens. He also calls for allowing at-large voters to vote at district precinct voting locations and transitioning election information online. Priorities he had in his first term and hopes to maintain into a second term include effective communication with at-large citizens and cultural programs.
Online:Â Campaign Facebook | Personal Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter/X
Brandi Ross
Age: 33
Hometown:Â Honolulu, Hawaii
Profession/background:Â According to her candidate website, Brandi Ross was born and raised in Tahlequah. She has “years of experience in economic development, government contracting and international trade” and “managed a foreign trade zone, fostering economic growth by connecting local businesses to global markets,” her website says, although neither it or her LinkedIn state where she worked. It is unclear when Ross moved to Hawaii, but a Facebook post from January mentions she “recently embraced island life here in Hawaii.”
Platform:Â Ross’ website mentions five primary areas of focus: tribal sovereignty, economic and business development, international trade, Cherokee language and cultural preservation and support for at-large citizens. Each category features related policy ideas. Ross says she hopes to “leverage my experience in international trade to position the Cherokee Nation as a global leader” through expanded opportunities for Cherokee businesses to engage in the global market and developing trade partnerships that “highlight the unique products and skills of Cherokee artisans and entrepreneurs.”
For at-large citizens, Ross wrote she intends to enhance access to resources and services for Cherokee citizens living outside the reservation. She also intends to “strengthen communication channels” and “advocate for expanded opportunities for at-large citizens to participate in tribal programs and decision-making.”
“I believe our at-large citizens deserve a strong voice in the Cherokee Nation government. As a Cherokee woman who has lived both within and beyond our reservation, I understand the challenges at-large citizens face in staying connected to our culture, services, and leadership,” Ross told the Cherokee Phoenix. “I want to ensure that all Cherokees, no matter where they live, have access to the resources and representation they deserve. My goal is to bring new energy, transparency, and accountability to the council while advocating for the needs of our people across the country.”
Online:Â YouTube | Campaign Facebook | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn
