Choctaw Chief Election Headed To Runoff

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (AP) – A runoff race will be held for chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians on June 30.

Incumbent Tribal Chief Phyliss J. Anderson will face former chief Beasley Denson in the runoff.

In complete, certified returns from Tuesday’s election, Anderson received 1,514 votes while Denson tallied 1,050.

Others in the race were Kevin Edwards with 731 votes; Billy G. Chickaway, 128; Robert Garcia, Jr., 50; Austin Tubby, 49; and Stella York Willis, 114.

Anderson unseated Denson, the incumbent chief, in 2011 with 56 percent of the vote. She became the first woman to lead the 10,000-member Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, which is headquartered in Neshoba County.