Meredith Frailey is a

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

politician who served on the

tribal council from 2003 to 2013.

Education

Meredith Frailey graduated from Locust Grove High School and went on to earn her bachelor's degree from

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Tulsa College of Law The University of Tulsa College of Law is the law school of the private University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For 2021, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the University of Tulsa College of Law at No. 111 among all law schools in the United S ...

Tribal Council

Frailey was first elected to the

tribal council in 2003 in the multi-member district 6 alongside incumbent Johnny Keener, and defeating incumbent Stephanie Wickliffe-Shepherd. In 2006, she was elected Speaker of the Tribal Council for a two-year term. After an amendment to election law split multi-member districts, Frailey ran unopposed for the new District 6, Seat 2 in 2007. In 2009, Frailey attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama. After another round of redistricting, Frailey lost her re-election campaign for the new 15th district to Janees Taylor in 2013. Principal Chief Chad Smith filed a lawsuit on her behalf requesting a runoff between her and Taylor, but the

Supreme Court ruled against the lawsuit. In 2021, Frailey ran in the 2021 Cherokee Nation tribal council elections for district 15. She lost the election to Danny Callison.

Deputy chief campaigns

In 2019, Frailey ran for deputy chief of the

against

Bryan Warner Bryan Warner is a Cherokee Nation politician who has served as the deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation since 2019 and who served as the Cherokee Nation tribal councilor for the 6th district from 2015 to 2019. Early life and education Warner gradu ...

and Linda Sacks. Warner won the general election and avoided a runoff with 58% of the vote. Frailey ran in the 2023 Cherokee Nation deputy chief election and lost to incumbent deputy chief

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frailey, Meredith Members of the Council of the Cherokee Nation Northeastern State University alumni University of Tulsa College of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Native American politicians