Leech Lake Election Board Publishes MCT Ordinance, Sets 2026 Reservation Election Schedule

The Leech Lake Election Board published the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Election Ordinance and a full 2026 reservation election schedule, formalizing a race for three seats on the Leech Lake Reservation Business Committee that has already been roiled by a candidate decertification fight.

The notice, posted to the tribal community news page by Michael Chosa, lists three positions up for election, each carrying a four-year term: Secretary/Treasurer of the Leech Lake Reservation Business Committee, Committeeperson for District I, and Committeeperson for District II. Candidates had to file at the RTC Administration Building at 190 Sailstar Dr NW in Cass Lake, with the filing window running from January 9 at 8:00 a.m. through January 20 at 4:30 p.m.

Band members will go to the polls on March 31, 2026 to decide who will advance to the General Election on June 9, 2026. Polling places are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on both days. The election board's procedural calendar required notice of certifications to the Tribal Executive Committee by February 9, appointment of election boards by February 12, and a decision on certification or non-certification by the Tribal Court of Appeals no later than February 17.

That last deadline had direct consequences for Arthur "Archie" LaRose, the most prominent name to enter the Secretary-Treasurer race. A tribal court banned the longtime elected official of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe from running for office because of a past felony conviction that was later overturned; four of five judges on the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's Election Appeals Court voted to decertify LaRose as a candidate for secretary-treasurer. The decision came in the wake of an appeal brought by three candidates who are now running for secretary-treasurer, the office LaRose occupied for the better part of two decades until his ouster in 2022.

LaRose served as the band's Tribal Secretary-Treasurer from 2002 to 2008 and again from 2014 to 2022, with a stint as Tribal Chairman from 2008 to 2012. In their ruling, the judges concluded that it did not matter that LaRose's 1992 conviction for third-degree assault was vacated by the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2024. The ordinance bars any tribal member who has ever been convicted of a felony of any kind from holding office.

LaRose pushed back forcefully, arguing his vacated conviction meant he had never been convicted at all. "My lawyer called me an outlier. That's rare," he said. "It's, it's extraordinary. No one else, not too many people in this whole world fits in that boat. And I can legally tell you, I have never been convicted of a felony in my life under state law and under federal law." He also challenged the appeals court's process directly: "So these four judges went above and beyond their authority and adopted their own rules, and by them adopting their own rules, they didn't look at my response. They didn't look at the Leech Lake record. They only looked at the challenge, and that's a big violation of not only in the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Constitution, but the election ordinance and my due process rights under Article 13, rights of members."

LaRose petitioned the MCT Tribal Executive Committee to reinstate his candidacy on the grounds that because his conviction was vacated he was in essence never convicted at all. That appeal was denied. Ballots for the election have already been printed, with the primary scheduled for March 30 — now confirmed as March 31 by the Leech Lake Reservation Business Committee's own candidacy certification records.

With LaRose off the ballot, the Secretary-Treasurer contest heads to a primary featuring three remaining candidates. The General Election is set for June 9, with council members elected this cycle serving a four-year term beginning in July 2026.