Scott Schulte elected Anoka County Board chair as one commissioner objects

Scott Schulte was elected chair of the Anoka County Board at the board's organizational meeting on Jan. 6, 2026. The board accepted a nomination and carried a voice vote to install Schulte as chair; Schulte then addressed the board and said one of his first priorities would be "bringing the board together" to work through issues coming in 2026.

The nomination was made aloud by the county administrator, who offered Commissioner Scott Schulte for chair. During the voice vote an objection was raised by the county administrator, who said, "I won't be supporting this nomination. Just too much dishonesty and corruption in the past that we've seen from this person," and stated they would vote no. Despite that objection and an initial moment of procedural confusion over whether a formal second had been recorded, the chair pro tem declared the motion carried and turned the meeting over to Schulte.

After taking the gavel, Schulte thanked the county administrator and fellow commissioners and said the board had "a lot to deal with" in 2026; he accepted responsibility for divisions and identified unifying the board among his early priorities.

The meeting record does not show any formal roll-call tally for the chair election; the vice chair selection later recorded an explicit 6-to-1 voice result. No formal challenge to the chair election outcome was recorded in the meeting transcript.