Ottawa County conservative groups offer dueling endorsements before the Aug. 6 GOP primary

Kate Brindley/States Newsroom

As the political season gets into full swing, Ottawa County Republicans have seemingly divided into two groups: those backed by far-right fundamentalist group Ottawa Impact and those backed by more traditional conservative groups.

Shortly after the county GOP bucked tradition and announced its candidate endorsements May 16 for several county, state and U.S. offices, another conservative group issued its own endorsements — the difference clearly shows a growing division between OI Republicans and traditional conservatives.

The county GOP didn’t return a request for comment, but did post a statement on its website explaining the reasoning behind the move: “This year, in the face of severe Democrat attacks on our county, our party has taken a proactive stance to ensure that our voice is heard loud and clear. … It is imperative that we elect conservative leaders who will champion traditional values and protect our constitutional freedoms.”

Not all conservatives are on board with that approach.

Ottawa Impact is a political action committee that was formed in 2021 over frustrations with county and state COVID-19 mitigation measures. It is led by self-described “parental rights advocates” Joe Moss and Sylvia Rhodea and currently holds a six-seat controlling majority on the 11-member Ottawa County Board of Commissioners. 

Ottawa County Commission Chair Joe Moss (left) and Commissioner Sylvia Rhodea (right) at the Jan. 10, 2023 meeting | Sarah Leach

Kurt Van Koevering, a longtime Republican activist and chair of the Conservative Ottawa PAC, said the divisions between county conservatives are more evident than ever. 

“It was a long-standing practice that the party didn’t endorse in the primary as part of ‘big tent’ policy. It was a desire that every candidate had a fair opportunity to compete in the primary, and then unite as an organization in the General Election,” he said for a story in the Zeeland Record, a local newspaper he owns and operates.

Van Koevering helped form Conservative Ottawa PA after he and fellow citizens became concerned about the controversies that have come to characterize the government of Ottawa County.

It’s no longer about who the best candidate is, Van Koevering said in an interview with the Advance.

“They’ve taken over the party, and they claim that these Republicans are not Ottawa Impact, but you look at their endorsements, they’re totally Impact,” he said. 

“You’ve got a prosecutor candidate that’s never filed for a search warrant, never conducted a felony trial and they think that he’s qualified?” he said of OI-endorsed Republican Greg Todd, “versus someone that’s done multiple murder trials?” he said of chief assistant county prosecutor Sarah Matwiejczyk, who is running as a Republican.

Van Koevering said it’s more about loyalty to Ottawa Impact, referring to Todd’s willingness to “kiss the ring.”

Van Koevering said it’s obvious when reviewing the higher office Ottawa GOP endorsements, where U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, a longtime Republican incumbent, received only four votes, instead backing county GOP Chair Brendan Muir, who has never held elected office.

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) speaks at the Mackinac Policy Conference, June 1, 2022 | Laina G. Stebbins

“The Republican Party is divided, but you’ll look at their endorsement convention where Bill Huizenga got four votes and the chairman of the party got 180-some votes,” he said.

He also pointed to the recent recall election of OI Republican Lucy Ebel, who lost to Democrat Chris Kleinjans on May 7.

“Then you have Ebel, who lost the recall election for District Two, normally a district that’s 55-45 Republican and went 60-40 for a Democrat and they still went back and re-endorsed her? To me, that’s saying they’re not listening to the voters. They are just focusing on their agenda and their agenda only,” Van Koevering said.

Several local candidates seeking countywide office denounced the GOP endorsement convention, saying they weren’t even interviewed before the vote.

Eric DeBoer is the current undersheriff of Ottawa County. He’s seeking the top sheriff post this year and said it’s disappointing that the local party opted to meddle before the Aug. 6 primary.

“I am not invited to the Ottawa GOP nominating committee meeting. I have never received a questionnaire, nor have I been interviewed by any member for vetting,” he said. “Historically, the party has stayed out of primary races. It has been up to the voters in the primary to choose their candidate. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be what the Ottawa GOP is about anymore. Instead, it is about consolidating power into the hands of a few.”

CO looked at candidates “who hold traditional Republican values, are demonstrably qualified leaders, show respect for their fellow citizens and leaders, are fiscally responsible and believe in limited government,” Van Koevering said. 

CO sent each candidate a questionnaire pertaining to issues challenging the respective offices. 

“The questionnaires along with the candidates’ resumes and endorsements were reviewed by the PAC during the selection process,” he said.

“The endorsement for prosecuting attorney will be coming at a later date as we are working to develop relevant questions for this position,” said Van Koevering.

Van Koevering said he believes that OI has a need to control.

“They want to be able to dictate what’s happening in every aspect of county government,” he said. “They want to dictate what crimes are prosecuted and what crimes are not and what laws are enforced and what laws are not because they think that the government has become over burdening.”

Last summer, the OI-led board championed the idea of Ottawa being a “constitutional county,” which came shortly after the Democratic-controlled state House passed gun-reform legislation, often referred to as “red flag” laws.

Prior to the board vote, Moss said he was “very happy to fulfill that commitment that I made very publicly and have supported for a long time.”

Ottawa Impact did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Meanwhile, the anti-abortion group Right to Life of Michigan issued its own set of endorsements, where the group favored all OI incumbents and a handful of OC-backed candidates.

Right to Life of Michigan did not return a request for comment.

The group often wields great influence among conservative groups, however, there have been internal frustrations over the years. 

Pete Hoekstra, current MIGOP chair, noted when he ran for the 2010 Republican gubernatorial nomination, Right to Life of Michigan backed then-state Attorney General Mike Cox — despite backing Hoekstra previously while he served as a U.S. representative. Now-former Gov. Rick Snyder ended up winning the GOP primary and the general election.

“I had a 100% pro-life voting record, and when I ran for governor, Right to Life endorsed one candidate and four out of five of us were clearly pro-life,” he said.

Hoekstra, 70, said the significance of endorsements varies. 

“So endorsements are totally dependent on the credibility of the organization, making the endorsements,” he said.

Van Koevering said conservatives need to get past the infighting because current divisions are creating opportunities for progressive candidates and groups.

“We’ve got to really stop doing the circular firing squad; we’re shooting ourselves,” he said. “And we’ve got to realize that a lot of stuff that’s happening is because we’re killing each other instead of focusing on running campaigns and getting good people elected. They’ve gone from referring to us as RHINOs to now calling us Democrats.”

Hoekstra agreed that Republicans need to stop the infighting and get to work winning elections.

“We don’t want to be in the press talking about internal fights for the last four or five months,” he said. “We’ve got to focus on November.”

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