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TAHLEQUAH, OK - The Cherokee Nation’s intensive campaign to get out the vote in northeastern Oklahoma had an impact on many races in the area.

"We're enormously grateful for what the Cherokee Nation did," said Congressman-elect Brad Carson (D-2nd District). "If you look at the counties within the Cherokee Nation, especially Cherokee County and Adair County, there was a very large turnout, a surprisingly large turnout."

On Election Day, Cherokee Nation vans took tribal members to the polls in Cherokee, Sequoyah, Adair and Delaware Counties. Last weekend, 50,000 tribal members in eastern Oklahoma received a letter from Principal Chief Chad Smith urging them to vote on Election Day. The Cherokee Nation encouraged voter participation throughout the campaign season by conducting candidate forums and distributing t-shirts and buttons encouraging people to vote on Indian issues.

"In Cherokee County we took more than 60 percent of the vote and no one would have expected that," Carson said. "I think that has to do with the high turnout, and the turnout has a lot to do with the work of the Cherokee Nation."

"We were pleased to hear from precincts in Rogers and Mayes counties that the Cherokee voter turnout was high in those areas as well", Smith said.

"I want to thank the Cherokee Nation and Chief Smith for encouraging voter turnout," Carson said. "Hopefully this is the start of greater political activity among tribal members because they could have a big voice if they would just let it be heard."

The Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma, did not endorse any candidate in this year’s elections, but worked hard to educate voters on each candidate’s position on Indian issues.

"We are pleased that a Cherokee tribal member will represent Oklahoma’s Second Congressional District", said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. "If you look at a map, the Cherokee Nation is the Second District. Carson has pledged to be an advocate for Indian issues in Congress and we anticipate that he will be attentive to his entire constituency, including the Cherokee Nation."