BINGER, Okla. – There is a new occupant in the chairman’s office at the Caddo Nation complex.

Anthony Cotter was sworn in as Caddo Nation chairman March 1 after defeating Dale Cotter by 24 votes in a Feb. 22 special election.

Originally from Anadarko, Cotter worked for the Choctaw Nation for more than 10 years. He and his wife life in Amber, about 45 minutes east of the Caddo Nation’s offices

Also sworn in to office were Secretary Marilyn Threlkeld, Fort Cobb Rep. Maureen Owings and Oklahoma City Rep. Jennifer Reeder.

With Cotter’s election, former interim Chairman Philip Smith will resume his duties as vice-chairman. As per the tribe’s removal procedures, Smith was temporarily elevated after a recall last September of Brenda Shemayme Edwards. In a statement dated March 6, Edwards maintains that she is still the tribe’s legitimate leader.

With two factions claiming to lead the tribe of 5,500 citizens, the Bureau of Indian Affairs designated the Caddo Nation a “high risk contractor/grantee” late last year, placing its self-governance funding at risk.

Southern Plains Regional Director Terry Bruner did not respond to requests for comment.

The tribe is also awaiting answers from an investigation into two break-ins at its complex on successive December nights. Both factions maintain that the other is at fault for the smashed windows, cut wires and shell casings that littered the property.  An open records request for documents related to the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ investigation into the break-ins was denied.