Redistricting leaves 2 sitting Allegan County commissioners squaring off in primary

ALLEGAN COUNTY — With the Allegan County Board of Commissioners decreasing from seven members to five, two incumbents will be running against each other in the Aug. 2 primary election.

Dean Kapenga of Hamilton and Tom Jessup of South Haven, both members of the county board since 2007, are squaring off in the District 3 primary. They were drawn into the same district when the Allegan County apportionment commission adopted a redistricting map with five districts instead of seven in November 2021.

Although they’re running opposed now, the longtime colleagues said any animosity they have is directed at the decision to shrink the board, not at each other.

“I think it’s sad I have to run against Dean. He’s a good commissioner, a nice guy,” Jessup said. “It was really an unfortunate and dumb decision by the apportioning committee there. The whole thing didn’t make sense to me, and it still doesn’t. It takes away representation from the citizens.”

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“Tom’s a friend, I respect him, but I’m forced to run against him,” Kapenga said. “I don’t believe it’s right to have three people (the majority needed on a five-person board) in charge of millions of taxpayer dollars.”

Priorities for Jessup, if reelected, include expanding broadband access, helping townships deal with infrastructure as populations increase and safety in schools.

“I think the big need right now is broadband, trying to get that throughout the county,” he said. “There are some sewer and water issues in the townships. As they want to expand for more residents, how do you service them?

“School resources officers is another thing. We haven’t talked much about that, but with the problems going on with violence in schools right now, we might have to address that topic sometime soon.”

Kapenga, a retiree from the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office, listed several priorities for the county should he be reelected. They include education, law enforcement and access to broadband and water.

“The hot topics are school safety and law enforcement stability,” he said. “We need to protect parental rights. I’m against mandates and government groups that are trying to mandate what parents will do.

“Two things we’re looking at with federal funds are broadband and water. We need to focus on protection and improvement to access in both of those areas.”

Kapenga said he takes pride in serving the county and ensuring the government is fiscally responsible.

“I’ve had the pleasure of being involved in policies that are conservative and make us fiscally sound,” he said. “I enjoy helping and serving people. We need to make sure, with the monies we’re spending, that we’re being fiscally sound.”

When asked about the board’s biggest accomplishments during his tenure, Jessup highlighted the county’s new jail and sheriff’s office facility. He also said communication from the county to the public has increased.

“Before, there wasn’t a lot of information flow from county organizations, elected officials and administration back to the townships,” he said. “Now, I think there’s a very good flow.”

Jessup said that taking on additional territory will be a challenge for whoever wins the seat.

“Whoever wins this district is taking on 10 government entities, seven townships and three cities,” he said. “Figuring out how to represent all of those and keep in touch is probably the hardest thing I see going forward.”

The winner of the primary between Jessup and Kapenga will face Don Doggendorf, a Democrat from Fennville, in the November general election.

There are two other primaries for county commissioner seats this August, along with two seats that will not have contested primaries.

Current board chairman Jim Storey faces a primary challenge from Ron Walters of Hamilton in District 1. Storey has served on the board since 2013 and serves on several other boards, including the MIchigan Associations of Counties and Allegan County Community Mental Health Services boards.

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In the new District 4, incumbent Max Thiele of Allegan will face a pair of primary challengers in Scott Beltman of Hopkins and Stephen Young of Allegan. Thiele has served on the board since 2001.

Beltman led an effort to get the county to pass an ordinance allowing off-road vehicles (ORVs) to operate on county roads last year. Young previously ran for commissioner in 2010 and ran against Fred Upton for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.

There will be no contested primaries in the 2nd and 5th districts in Allegan County in August.

Incumbent Mark DeYoung, R-Dorr, is running unopposed in District 2, and will be unopposed in the general election as well.

In District 5, incumbent Gale Dugan, R-Otsego, does not face a primary challenge, but will face Austin Marsman, D-Martin, in the November election.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch. 

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Incumbents Kapenga, Jessup face off in primary for Allegan County board