Hoskin resigned as Secretary of State on February 6, 2019, to file run for
Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. He was
elected on June 1, 2019, having received 57 percent of the vote. Before taking his oath of office, he announced his intent to invest $30 million into repairing homes for Cherokees who have previously been on a waiting list under the tribe's housing rehabilitation program. Hoskin met with more than 100 employees of the Cherokee Nation on August 7, a week before his inauguration, and surprised them by revealing plans to raise the tribe's minimum wage for government employees to $11 per hour, up from the previous minimum wage of $9.50 per hour. He later encouraged the board of directors of the business arm of the tribe, Cherokee Nation Businesses, to follow the government's lead and to also raise its minimum wage. He was sworn in as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation during a ceremony held in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, on Wednesday, August 14, 2019, alongside newly elected Deputy Principal Chief
Bryan Warner. On August 22, Hoskin announced his plan to nominate Cherokee Nation Vice President of Government Relations
Kim Teehee as the first Cherokee Nation delegate to Congress. Hoskin said the Cherokee Nation delegate is referenced in both the Treaty of Hopewell from 1785 and the Treaty of New Echota from 1835 between the Cherokee Nation and the federal government. The Treaty of 1866 also reaffirms all previous treaties between the Cherokee Nation and the United States, Hoskin states. Hoskin and Warner also proposed the creation of the Cherokee Nation's first Secretary of Veterans Affairs, which, upon approval, will be a cabinet-level position. Hoskin has nominated former Deputy Principal Chief
Joe Crittenden, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran, to hold this position. He ran for re-election in the
2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election and received over 50% of the vote on the first round, avoiding a runoff. After his re-election, he is term-limited from running for principal chief again until 2031.
Relationship with Stitt administration Hoskin has criticized
Governor Kevin Stitt for pushing back against the
McGirt decision, saying that "the governor 'is trying to convince the public that there is chaos because of McGirt where there is not chaos" and that Stitt "has been bent on destroying the tribes.” In July 2022, Hoskin issued an executive order that no
Oklahoma state flag should be flown on Cherokee property, but later restored the flags due to backlash. After the overturning of
Roe v. Wade, Hoskin said that Stitt, who had gone on FOX News to say that Hoskin's and other tribes were planning to offer abortion services, made “grossly false" statements, and also said that the Cherokee Nation currently doesn’t provide reproductive health services. He also stated he had heard of no other tribe in the state making plans to do so. After the federal supreme court ruled in
Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta in favor of Oklahoma, Hoskin wrote that "this decision is a betrayal to our sovereign nations in Oklahoma, and it will have far reaching impacts on all federally-recognized tribes." Hoskin endorsed Stitt's opponent, Democrat
Joy Hofmeister, in the
2022 election. == Personal ==