Mike Shambaugh is an American and

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, baseball player, and police officer who has served on the Cherokee Nation tribal councilor representing the 9th district since 2017 and as speaker of the Cherokee Nation tribal council since 2021.

Early life, education, and baseball career

Mike Shambaugh was born on December 22, 1964. He was raised in

Jay, Oklahoma Jay is a city and county seat of Delaware County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,448 at the 2010 census, compared to 2,482 at the 2000 census, a decrease of 1.4 percent. Almost 40% of its residents are Native American, thus Ja ...

and graduated from Jay High School. He attended

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...

, but he did not graduate.

Baseball career

Shambaugh played on the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles baseball team from 1984 to 1987. He was selected by '' Collegiate Baseball'' magazine as one of their pre-season All-American team members in 1986. He played in the National Baseball Congress World Series championship games in 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987. The first two years for Liberal, Kansas, followed by the

Anchorage Glacier Pilots The Anchorage Glacier Pilots are a college summer baseball team in Anchorage, Alaska in the United States. They are part of the Alaska Baseball League, and a member of the National Baseball Congress. The Pilots have won the NBC World Series i ...

, and finally for the Wichita Broncos. His team won the championship in 1985 and 1986. In 1988, he signed with the Boise Hawks for a season. In 1990, '' The Oklahoman'' named him as one of the 1980s "all-decade" Oklahoma high school baseball team members. Shambaugh retired early from baseball after an injury.

Police career and campaigns for sheriff

After retiring from baseball, Shambaugh returned to his hometown of

in Delaware County to work as a police officer. In 2000, he ran for Delaware County sheriff in the

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

primary against Lynden Woodruff, Jerry Littlefield, and Mike Dilbeck. Shambaugh and Woodruff advanced to a runoff, which Shambaugh lost receiving 46% of the vote. By 2003, Shambaugh served as Jay Chief of Police. Woodruff would later resign as Delaware County Sheriff after pleading guilty to

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

; after his replacement, Rick White, was criticized for a racist joke during a stump speech in 2004, Shambaugh forwarded five complaints his office had received against White to the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

. In 2007, Shambaugh was Jay Chief of Police during the 2007 ice storm, during which half the city did not have power and the area was under a Boil-water advisory. In 2016, Shambaugh ran Delaware County sheriff as the Democratic Party's nominee; after incumbent Harlan Moore won the election by seven votes, Shambaugh requested a recount. After the recount he lost the election by 5 votes.

Cherokee Nation tribal council

In 2017, Shambaugh filed to run for the 9th district of

tribal council. Incumbent Curtis Snell was term-limited and four candidates filed for the general election: Shambaugh, Anthony Cochran, Edward Crawford, and Clifton Hughes. He advanced to a runoff election alongside Hughes after leading in the general election. Shambaugh went on to win the runoff election with 55% of the vote. He was sworn into office on August 14, 2017. On August 13, 2020, after the ''

McGirt v. Oklahoma ''McGirt v. Oklahoma'', 591 U.S. ___ (2020), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case which ruled that, as pertaining to the Major Crimes Act, much of the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma remains as Native American lands of the pr ...

'' decision, principal chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. appointed Shambaugh to the Commission for the Protection of Cherokee Nation Sovereignty to examine the effects of the decision and make recommendations to the nation on how to allocate resources. In June 2021, Shambaugh ran for re-election and faced challengers Lawrence Panther and Joyce Nix McCarter. He won re-election with 59% of the vote. He was sworn in for his second term on August 14. On August 26, he was elected speaker of Cherokee Nation tribal council and

Victoria Vazquez Victoria Vazquez is a Cherokee Nation artist and politician who has served on the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council since October 22, 2013. She was named a Cherokee National Treasure in 2012. Early life and artistic career Victoria Mitchell was bor ...

was elected as vice-speaker. In 2022, Shambaugh criticized the ''

Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta ''Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta'', 597 U.S. ___ (2022), was a United States Supreme Court case related to ''McGirt v. Oklahoma'', decided in 2020. In ''McGirt'', the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Congress never properly disestablished the Indian ...

'' decision as "another broken promise." In 2023 after Governor

Kevin Stitt John Kevin Stitt (born December 28, 1972) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, he began his first term as governor in January 2019 and was reelected to a second t ...

appointed former Cherokee Nation tribal councilor

Wes Nofire John Wesley "Wes" Nofire (born April 30, 1986) is a Cherokee-American politician and a former heavyweight professional boxer. During his boxing career Nofire fought under the name "The Cherokee Warrior". Nofire currently serves on the Cherokee Nat ...

as the Oklahoma

Native American Affairs Liaison The Native American Affairs Liaison is a position in the executive branch of Oklahoma government responsible for representing federally recognized tribes in the state within the executive branch. The position replaced the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Co ...

, Shambaugh published an

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...

in the '' Cherokee Phoenix'' comparing Nofire to General George Armstrong Custer's Native American scouts and criticizing his appointment because of his "peddl ngin fact-free unhinged and ideologically extreme conspiracy theories that pose a danger of political violence" such as the

Jewish Indian theory Jewish Indian theory (or Hebraic Indian theory, or Jewish Amerindian theory) was the erroneous idea that some or all of the Ten Lost Tribes, lost tribes of Israel had travelled to the Americas and that all or some of the indigenous peoples of the Am ...

, implying principal chief Hoskins is "the biblical 'beast'" otherwise known as

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

, and accusing the

of "child trafficking."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shambaugh, Mike 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Native American politicians Anchorage Glacier Pilots players Baseball players from Oklahoma Boise Hawks players Candidates in the 2000 United States elections Candidates in the 2016 United States elections Cherokee Nation sportspeople Living people Members of the Council of the Cherokee Nation Native American baseball players Oklahoma Democrats Oklahoma police officers Oral Roberts Golden Eagles baseball players Place of birth missing (living people) People from Delaware County, Oklahoma 1964 births