Gary Batton
Batton in 2015
Chief of the Choctaw Nation
Assumed office
April 28, 2014
DeputyJack Austin
Preceded byGregory E. Pyle
Assistant Chief of the Choctaw Nation
In office
May 31, 2007 – April 28, 2014
LeaderGregory E. Pyle
Preceded byMike Bailey
Succeeded byJack Austin
Personal details
Born (1966-12-15) December 15, 1966
Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Choctaw Nation
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAngela Batton
Children2
EducationSoutheastern Oklahoma State University (BA)

Gary Dale Batton (born December 15, 1966) is a tribal administrator and politician, the current and 47th Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.[1] It is the third-largest federally recognized tribe and second-largest reservation in total area.[2]

Batton was appointed as Chief on April 28, 2014, upon Chief Gregory E. Pyle's retirement. He was elected as Chief in his own right in a general election on July 11, 2015, with 86.5% of the vote.[3] In 2019, Batton was unopposed in seeking a second full term.[4] He was subsequently unopposed in seeking a third full term in 2023.

Early life

Batton was born on December 15, 1966, in Wichita, Kansas. His mother was fully Choctaw, and his father was of undisclosed heritage, hailing from West Virginia. His family moved to Oklahoma, where he graduated from Clayton High School in Clayton, Oklahoma in 1985. He attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University, graduating in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in Business Management.

Batton had begun working for the Choctaw Nation in 1987 as a clerk in the Purchasing Department. Upon graduating from SOSU, he was selected for the position of deputy director of the Choctaw Nation Housing Authority.

Career

In 1997 he was chosen as executive director of the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority. Upon the retirement of Assistant Chief Mike Bailey in May 2007, Batton was selected as Assistant Chief. During his career as executive director of the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority, Batton assisted by adding, replacing, and expanding clinics as well as enhancing the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse.

After the retirement of Chief Gregory E. Pyle in April 2014, after he had served 17 years in office and 13 years as Assistant Chief, Batton was appointed by the tribal council as acting Chief.[5]

At the time the tribe was embroiled in allegations of corruption by contractors and a tribal officer related to construction projects, including one for a casino. Neither Pyle nor Batton were charged in relation to this federal case. By November 2014, six men had pleaded guilty in a "fraudulent purchase of $8.5 million in steel for a casino project."[2] Jason Brett Mrrida, executive director of Construction, was found guilty on November 20, 2014, of six counts of a seven-count indictment.[6]

The following year, Batton was elected as Chief in his own right in the general election on July 11, 2015, with 86.5% of the vote. He was sworn in as Chief of the Choctaw Nation on September 7, 2015, for a four-year term. The person occupying this office may be elected to an unlimited number of four-year terms. Batton filed to run for a second term in the 2019 election, where he was reelected as Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Batton led the tribe in talks with the federal government under the Obama and Trump administrations.

Batton stood for reelection in 2023 with no opposition.

Controversies

Batton has faced pressure from the some in the U.S. Congress over the tribe's refusal to extend citizenship to freedmen, to the point where Maxine Waters (D-CA) threatened to withhold housing funds unless the tribe relented.[7] The tribe currently excludes freedmen under the rule that they are not "Choctaw by-blood" as defined in the 1983 Constitution. Ultimately the congressional threat went nowhere. Batton insists that refusing citizenship to the freedmen is not a race issue,[8] and was joined by Dr. Blue Clarke, a Muscogee Nation citizen and a professor of Indigenous Law at Oklahoma City University, in claiming it is an issue of tribal sovereignty, and no business of the federal government.

Despite being a registered Republican,[9] Batton joined the chiefs of the other Five Tribes to endorse Democrat Joy Hofmeister for governor against the incumbent Republican Kevin Stitt in 2022.[10][11] His decision was reportedly criticized by some in the tribal council, as the tribes had remained neutral to this point and never endorsed state-wide candidates before.

Although the Choctaw Constitution explicitly outlaws same-sex marriage,[12] in May 2023, the Choctaw Constitutional Court ruled that tribal members have a right to marry, regardless of gender. The court claimed the tribal constitution was restricting the rights of tribal citizens guaranteed to them under federal law via the 14th Amendment. After the ruling, Batton took no steps to challenge the court, instead stating "we offer our love and support to the family involved in this case."[13]

Personal life

Batton lives in Clayton, Oklahoma with his wife, Angie. They have two children and two grandchildren.

Elections

2015 Choctaw Nation Principal Chief Election
Candidate Votes  %
Gary Batton (incumbent) 21,785 86.84%
Deborah Battiest-Tomasi 3,301 13.16%
Total votes 25,086 100%

References

  1. ↑ "Executive Branch". Choctaw Nation. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  2. 1 2 "Trial exposes fraud against Choctaw Nation for gaming project". Indianz.com. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma General Election – OFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS" (PDF). choctawnation.com. July 11, 2015. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  4. ↑ "Public Notice - Prospective Candidates Filing for Elective Office" (PDF). Choctaw Nation Election Board. April 24, 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  5. ↑ "Meet the Chief - Elect Chief Gary Batton". www.chiefbatton.com.
  6. ↑ "Upset Citizens Asking Questions About Choctaw Nation Governance After Trial". KTEN. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  7. ↑ Hilleary, Cecily (August 17, 2021). "US Lawmaker to Native American Tribes: Give Freedmen Citizenship or Lose Housing Funds". KOSU. NPR. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  8. ↑ Herrera, Allison (September 21, 2021). "Interview: Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton Talks About Freedmen Citizenship". KOSU. NPR. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  9. ↑ "Five Tribes break tradition, endorse Hofmeister for governor". The Norman Transcript. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  10. ↑ Gorman, Reese (10 October 2022). "Five tribes to unite to back Joy Hofmeister for governor". The Frontier. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  11. ↑ Young, Molly (10 October 2022). "Oklahoma's Five Tribes will endorse Joy Hofmeister for governor". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "Choctaw Nation Marriage and Divorce Code / Choctaw Nation Marriage Act" (PDF). choctawnation.com/government/judicial-branch/tribal-codes. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "Choctaw Nation's highest court affirms same-sex marriage". Muskogee Phoenix. 2023-05-25. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
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