Candidates Earl Smith and Jennifer Turner will face off in a runoff election Saturday, Aug. 9, for the vacant District 5 seat on the Choctaw Nation Tribal Council.
In the July 12 general election, Turner and Smith received the most votes in the seven-candidate field, but neither earned majority support to win the seat outright. Turner received 343 votes, or 34.27 percent of the vote, while Smith earned 201 votes, or 20.08 percent.
District 5 covers parts of Pittsburg, Haskell and LeFlore counties along the northern edge of the Choctaw Nation Reservation. The winning candidate will succeed former Councilman Ron Perry, who resigned April 1 after being charged with six counts of sexual battery. The victor will serve the remainder of Perry’s four-year term, which began in 2023, and join 11 other council members responsible for creating tribal law and overseeing the nation’s $2.8 billion budget.
Earl Smith, 51, worked as a facilities maintenance technician for the Choctaw Nation and has spent much of his career in construction, according to his candidate biography. Smith told NonDoc he resigned from that position when the District 5 race advanced to a runoff owing to the job’s limited days off.
Jennifer Turner, 53, is a registered nurse with 30 years of experience and currently serves as the RN unit manager at the Choctaw Nation Healthcare Center, according to her candidate biography. She also served 13 years on the Stigler Public Schools Board of Education.
Both Turner and Smith agreed to interviews with NonDoc to discuss their priorities ahead of the runoff.
Jennifer Turner: ‘I need a councilperson to advocate for my patients’
Turner has emphasized access to health care throughout her campaign. If elected, she said she would advocate for extended hours at local clinics to reduce the burden on emergency rooms.
“After 4:30 or 5 (p.m.), everyone is just referred to the ER,” Turner said. “It’s hard on parents. It’s hard on everybody, but especially working parents. I would like to have an after-hours clinic for people like that. It would take a lot of stress off the emergency room.”
Smith said he would also support health care expansion, but he emphasized that sustainable growth in the district is necessary for major investments.
“There’s a need for expansion of the clinic and to keep health care accessible,” Smith said. “But if our numbers decline, then sooner or later, there won’t be that many natives to go into a health clinic.”
Both candidates said they would work to connect Choctaw citizens with existing services and advocate for improvements.
“I need a councilperson to advocate for my patients,” Turner said. “Tribal members need help — whether it’s with a referral (or) getting an appointment. I just want to be someone who can help and point our tribal members in the right direction.”
Earl Smith: ‘The people in the towns that make up District 5 have been forgotten’
Smith has focused his campaign on revitalizing small towns across District 5. If elected, he said he would help local leaders apply for grants and encourage more housing and business development.
“We have to start helping these smaller towns,” Smith said. “We’ve got to promote growth or these towns are just going to die.”
Turner said she also supports local development and praised the Choctaw Nation’s Chahtapreneur program, which supports Choctaw-owned small businesses.
“We’ve got heating and air businesses, we’ve got coffee houses, we’ve got snow cone stands,” Turner said. “A lot of these areas are thriving. You don’t have to be 50 years old to do these. You can be a 20-year-old Chahtapreneur and make a pretty good living.”
While Smith agreed the Chahtapreneur program is beneficial, he said the nation must do more to attract families and employers to rural communities.
“The people in the towns that make up District 5 have been forgotten about,” Smith said. “We need families to put their kids in school here. We need housing. We need job opportunities. We need families to thrive so we don’t lose that culture. There’s no opportunity for them in these little towns, and people get left behind.”
Candidates promise to serve all citizens
Beyond economic and health care issues, both candidates said they would promote educational and cultural opportunities for Choctaw citizens.
Smith emphasized the importance of vocational education and government transparency. Turner said she wants to expand awareness of vocational and higher education programs and support cultural learning for youth, elders and families.
As the two finalists from a wide field of candidates, both pledged to represent all citizens in District 5, regardless of who they supported in the general election.
“Your voice still matters, and your vote still counts,” Smith said. “Even if their person didn’t get in (the runoff), we all have great qualities. We want to represent everybody.”
Turner agreed and urged District 5 voters to stay engaged.
“You know, it’s easy to sit back and not do anything and not choose a person,” Turner said. “We had some great candidates, and I would just say thank you for being involved, for being a voter.”
