Ottawa County GOP sues itself over mishandled convention

GRAND HAVEN — The Ottawa County Republican Party must redo its most recent convention after a circuit court judge ruled the organization broke its own rules.

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In a lawsuit filed Dec. 14, Republican precinct delegates Connie Eardley, Dianna Johnson and Jordan Jorritsma sued the county GOP’s executive committee, claiming it didn’t adhere to the group’s own bylaws Dec. 1 when it conducted an election to select its new executive committee for 2023.

A local party organization is responsible for a political party's activities below the state level, but isn't registered with the Federal Election Commission. They help identify candidates for partisan elections — where political affiliation is declared — and provide staff and other resources to aid in those campaigns. Local party organizations also take positions on issues of immediate concern to voters.

“Michigan law provides that all major political parties … have what is called an executive committee,” Jon Lauderbach, an attorney with Warner Norcross and Judd, told The Grand Haven Tribune.

Lauderbach represented the three precinct delegates in the lawsuit.

“An executive committee is defined by the Michigan election law and, in an analogy to a corporation, it’s the corporate board of directors. (It's) the group that makes the decisions on how the party is going to be run in each county," he said.

Historically at its conventions, the Ottawa County GOP would split its delegates into three separate caucuses — divided by region — prior to voting on who would comprise the party’s executive committee. According to court documents, the plaintiffs said that process was not followed Dec. 1.

At the convention, the party selected its 24-member executive committee and its convention chairperson, Joel Studebaker.

Lauderbach said it was Studebaker who made the decision to violate the party’s own bylaws.

“It was (interim Chairperson Keith) den Hollander who goes, ‘It is fine if you are the chairman. But you still have to follow the bylaws,' (and) Studebaker said, 'No, I don’t, that is the old executive committee's bylaws.' That right there is what the problem was."

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“From a governance standpoint, the bylaws are the bylaws of the organization,” Lauderbach continued. “If a new board member gets elected to the General Motors board of directors, they don’t get to come in and be like, ‘We are not going to follow the GM bylaws, we are going to follow our own bylaws.’”

The lawsuit sought a declaratory judgment, meaning no monetary damages were sought, but rather clarification from a judge on the relationship between the parties and their legal obligations and rights between one another.

In mid-December, den Hollander helped negotiate a consent judgment with the plaintiffs, which is when all involved parties agree on a settlement to a dispute.

The newly elected executive committee, however, didn't approve of den Hollander acting on the party’s behalf and asked the court several days later to set aside the consent judgment, claiming den Hollander lacked standing to speak for the group and that he had a grudge over not being re-elected to the committee.

“(Keith den Hollander) was no longer a member of the newly formed (Ottawa County Republican Executive Committee) effective Dec. 1, 2022, and was only a placeholder until Dec. 31, 2022,” read court documents for a countersuit against the interim chairman. “Den Hollander had, in fact, ran as a candidate to remain in the executive committee and was not re-elected at the post-election convention.

“The conflict of interest he holds is the same as the plaintiffs in the original complaint who filed a lawsuit as begrudged candidates who did not get elected into the newly formed OCREC,” the cross complaint said.

On Jan. 6, 20th Circuit Court Judge Jon Hulsing ruled on the original lawsuit, siding with the three campaign delegates and requiring the party to host a makeup convention and new election.

“The judge ruled that Keith (den Hollander) was still the chair of the executive committee at that time,” Lauderbach told The Tribune. “The Studebaker group did not get elected because they didn’t follow the bylaws and chose to come up with their own rules. So, the executive committee is the old executive committee. ... If you don’t have a meeting that complies with your bylaws, the meeting doesn’t count.”

Lauderbach said den Hollander was within his authority to negotiate the terms of the consent judgment.

The lawsuit is the latest in what appears to be ongoing infighting over control of the county’s Republican Party. In spring 2022, den Hollander became chair of the Ottawa County GOP after former chair Rett DeBoer stepped down.

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At the time, it was speculated her decision was due to pressure from far-right group Ottawa Impact and its members, although DeBoer denied the rumor to the Grand Haven Tribune, saying she stepped away because of internal issues within the party.

In April, eight Ottawa Impact candidates, led by Hudsonville businessman Joe Moss, announced they were challenging all but one Republican incumbents on the county board. (Kyle Terpstra, of District 6 ran unopposed for re-election and was endorsed by Ottawa Impact, but is not directly affiliated with the group.)

In July, the GOP executive committee — still led by den Hollander — censured six of the Republican incumbent commissioners for participating in voter forums hosted by nonpartisan local groups Vote Common Good: West Michigan and Ottawa Integrity. The committee accused the commissioners of "publicly embracing Democrat interference in the Republican primary," a charge the incumbents vehemently denied.

All but one of the six who were censured lost to their Ottawa Impact challengers in the August primary, securing a de facto majority of the county board starting in January 2023. Moss is now chairman of the board. The group was also successful in winning seats on local school boards in districts on the east side of the county.

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At least one of the newly elected executive committee members for the county GOP was Jenni Shepherd-Kelley, the only Ottawa Impact candidate who was unsuccessful in her bid for commissioner. She challenged Republican incumbent Roger Bergman, who represents the city of Grand Haven.

The makeup convention is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at the Holland Fish and Game Club, 10840 Chicago Drive, Zeeland.

— Sarah Leach is editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarahleach@hollandsentinel.com. Find her on Twitter @SentinelLeach.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County GOP sues itself over mishandled convention