Democrats lose a seat on the Ottawa County Commission

Ottawa County logo | Sarah Leach

As most Michigan residents awaited the outcome of the 2024 presidential race, Ottawa County Democrats waited to see if they gained additional seats on the board of commissioners after two years under Ottawa Impact’s leadership.

Instead of gaining seats, however, Democrats lost one of their two current seats on the board as Chris Kleinjans — who won in a special recall election in May — lost in the general election to non-traditional Republican Jordan Jorritsma.

Ottawa Impact, the far-right fundamentalist group formed in 2021 over frustrations with the county and state over COVID-19 mitigation measures, officially lost the majority on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners in the Aug. 6 Republican primary. However progressives hoped to make bigger gains in the general election.

OI won a controlling majority on the county Board of Commissioners in 2022; the group’s two-year tenure saw the county commission sued six separate times in a 20-month timespan between 2023 and 2024 — three remain active as of publication, including one filed last month over allegations that the county isn’t properly following state transparency laws.

Several controversial hirings and firings, along with mounting legal costs, inspired non-OI conservatives and Democrats to vie for public office, resulting in an unprecedented 33 people running for the commission’s 11 seats.

A recall petition targeted one OI commissioner — Lucy Ebel — and Kleinjans ultimately defeated her by a 20% margin in May 2024. In the August primary, Ebel lost again to Jorritsma by nearly the same margin.

In the general election, Jorritsma earned 6,556 to Kleinjans’ 6,319 — a difference of just 237 votes. According to Michigan law, automatic recounts only occur in statewide races when the results are within 2,000 votes, meaning Kleinjans would need to request a recount.

As of Wednesday morning, neither Kleinjans nor Jorritsma responded to requests for comment.

Of the six OI incumbents who ran for reelection — plus one seeking re-election after being voted out in a special recall election in May — four survived primary challengers to the general election, where all faced Democrats and won.

The remaining positions on the 11-member board didn’t change from the primary outcome, with other Democrats unsuccessfully challenging the remaining OI commissioners as well as the incoming traditional Republicans.

In August, OI-backed candidates for prosecutor, sheriff and treasurer lost to non-OI Republicans; no Democrats filed to run in those races for the general election.