Is Ottawa County's Republican Party becoming more far right?

Change is in the air for the Republican Party in Ottawa County.

Rett DeBoer recently stepped down as chairperson of the county GOP. It was speculated that her move occurred due to pressure from the local political action committee (PAC) called Ottawa Impact and its members.

DeBoer denied the rumor, saying she stepped away because of internal issues happening within the party. She declined to comment further.

Replacing her as chairperson of the Ottawa County GOP is Keith den Hollander.

As of late, Ottawa Impact has become a staple at county Board of Commissioners and local school board meetings across the county. Some of the issues the group has protested against include masking requirements in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, employee vaccine mandates, schools teaching critical race theory (CRT), and the county’s Department of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

According to the group’s website, Ottawa Impact is “committed to defending the constitutionally protected rights of parents to make health and education decisions for their own children. We (Ottawa Impact) desire to preserve and pass on the blessings and heritage of Ottawa County to future generations.”

Ottawa Impact has shown support for banning abortions in the U.S. and to “recognize our nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage and celebrate America as an exceptional nation blessed by God. We oppose indoctrination of our county’s youth and the politicization of public schools.”

Fringe group, some say

For some, Ottawa Impact’s presence in local politics is deeply problematic, and possibly represents what might be considered to be on the fringe of the Republican Party.

“The Ottawa County Republican Party has been a conservative, but not an extremist party, for years,” former Republican politician and Grand Haven resident John “Field” Reichardt said. “A classic example of that is the presidential primary election in 1980 in which George H.W. Bush beat Reagan by 2-1. This gives you a pretty clear indication in the way that a lot of the (voters then were) fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, but there are not a lot of wacky Republicans in this area.”

Historically, Reichardt said, Ottawa County voters overwhelmingly support Republicans. However, in the 2016 presidential election, there was not as much widespread support for Donald Trump.

“(Voters) just couldn’t stomach Trump very well,” Reichardt said. “He got something like 58 percent of the vote (the actual number was 59.8 percent), unlike the normal 72-78 percent like they normally have voted.”

The county GOP membership has been shifting over the past 15 years, Reichardt says, away from the more business-oriented crowd toward what he calls “people in far-right land.”

County Commissioner Roger Bergman — who represents District 10, which includes portions of Grand Haven city and township, most of Spring Lake Township, and all of Ferrysburg – will be one of eight current commissioners running against a candidate promoted by Ottawa Impact in the August primary election. Bergman, who is running as a Republican, also has concerns.

“What I think is happening, there are some extreme right elements that are happening not in just Ottawa County, but throughout the state of Michigan, as well as most of the country,” he said. “What their intent is, is to take over local governments. That’s what we are faced with.”

Bergman said voters don’t typically take primary elections very seriously, but he hopes more people will pay attention to this year’s primary.

“I think there are a lot of people that are waking up to that fact, and hopefully people will understand the importance of this election, and not just vote for the county but also state elections and school boards,” he said.

Bergman says he will be campaigning more for the Aug. 2 ballot than he has for past primary elections.

“Hopefully, I will (also) be able to get the message out to my fellow commissioners so that they also will be re-elected,” he said, “because the people running against them, their intent is to take over the county commissioners. Their intent is to change the direction of the county board.”

Describing himself as a “Gerald Ford Republican,” Bergman said he believes it is important that the politics of the county and state be somewhere in the middle between Republicans and Democrats.

Ottawa Impact candidates

Running against Bergman is Jenni Shepherd-Kelley. According to her bio on the Ottawa Impact website, she is a small-business owner and has bachelor’s degrees in biology and kinesiology. Key issues for her include a passion for parental rights, conservative values and American history. She says she opposes critical race theory, DEI and Marxism.

Shepherd-Kelley could not be reached for comment.

The other county commissioner for the Grand Haven area is Phillip Kuyers, who represents District 9 – which includes portions of the city and township, part of Robinson Township, and all of Olive Township. Kuyers will also be challenged in the Aug. 2 primary by an Ottawa Impact candidate, Roger Belknap.

Belknap is a small-business owner and has public service experience gained from his time working for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) as the transportation assets management council program coordinator, according to his campaign.

Neither Kuyers nor Belknap could be reached for comment.

Other county commissioner candidates endorsed by Ottawa Impact include Gretchen Cosby in District 1, Jacob Bonnema in District 4, Joe Moss in District 5, Rebekah Curran in District 7, Sylvia Rhodea in District 8 and Allison Miedema in District 11.

Few of the candidates have extensive political background. In fact, on her campaign page, Cosby states, “I am a nurse, not a politician.”

You can get more information on these candidates at ottawaimpactpac.com.

Attempts to reach representatives from Ottawa Impact for comment have been unsuccessful.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County Republican Party becoming more far right