OTTAWA COUNTY — The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners is set for 2025, with an unexpected upset in the District 2 race. 

After being largely successful in ending the two-year majority of far-right fundamentalist group Ottawa Impact on the board after the August primary election, county Democrats hoped to gain additional seats on the 11-member board.

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 — was defeated in the general election to non-traditional Republican Jordan Jorritsma.

Ottawa Impact formed in 2021 over frustrations with the county and state over COVID-19 mitigation measures. The group, which currently holds six seats on the board, officially lost their majority in the Aug. 6 Republican primary.

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 the state’s Freedom of Information Act law.

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, not including a handful of write-ins.

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

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.

Read More: Ottawa Impact to lose board majority, but some candidates remain

“Ottawa County sent a clear message that it wants community-oriented leaders who prioritize our conservative values. People in our area showed that they didn’t want the pendulum to swing the other way, but wanted to return to the traditional conservative leadership that our area knows and loves,” Jorritsma said in a statement Wednesday. “I’m incredibly excited to bring my perspective as a young father to the county commission, and work to make Ottawa County a vibrant community for my daughter to grow up in.”

Jorritsma said he and Kleinjans spoke by phone Wednesday morning, and that Kleinjans had conceded.

“Chris ran a great race, and I’m grateful for his public service. We talked on the phone this morning and he offered his help and perspective over the next few years, which I appreciate. I will work with anyone Republican or Democrat who wants to help make our area thrive,” Jorritsma said.

Kleinjans expressed his confidence in the integrity of the election and the Ottawa County Elections department. 

“I have absolute faith in the process from start to finish and I’m grateful to (Clerk) Justin Roebuck and the many election workers who ensure our free and fair elections,” said Kleinjans. 

Kleinjans said he has every intention of “extending the service-based mindset that has defined his life into a new phase, and helping to make the neighborhoods we call home thriving places where we all belong.”

“I am grateful for everyone who supported me in this cycle as well as the May recall election,” he said. “Your support created the spark that led to the collapse of Ottawa Impact in local politics at the board level. While I wish I could be at the table to repair the damage done, I’m nevertheless relieved their majority has been eliminated and other voices will be joining the conversation. Let’s remain diligent to the factors that led to this last period we’ve lived through and work to make a community where all are valued and supported.”

Of the six OI incumbents who ran for re-election — 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.

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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.

Here’s who won:

• District 1: 

  • Jim Barry (R): 10,397 (61%)

  • Danielle Smith (D): 6,741 (39%)

• District 2: 

  • Jordan Jorritsma (R): 6,556 (51%)

  • Chris Kleinjans (D): 6,319  (49%)

• District 3: 

  • Doug Zylstra (D): 7,383 (58%)

  • Orlando Estrada (R): 5,299 (42%)

• District 4: 

  • Chris Crothers (D): 4,953 (30%)

  • Jacob Bonnema (R): 10,370 (62%)

  • Rob Thurkettle (I): 1,315 (8%)

• District 5: 

  • (i) Joe Moss (OI-R): 12,806 (74%)

  • Jon Rabideau (D): 4,402 (26%)

• District 6: 

  • Michelle Dieleman (D): 5,551 (33%)

  • (i) Kendra Wenzel (OI-R): 11,477 (67%)

• District 7: 

  • Heather L. Majestic (D): 4,686 (29%)

  • John Teeples (R): 11,717 (71%)

• District 8: 

  • Becky Patrick (D): 4,397 (40%)

  • (i) Sylvia Rhodea (OI-R):6,578 (60%)

• District 9: 

  • Angela Stanford-Butler (D): 6,409 (38%)

  • Phil Kuyers (R): 10,508 (62%)

• District 10: 

  • Josh Brugger (R): 10,672 (64%)

  • Oliver Shampine (D): 6,058 (36%)

• District 11: 

  • Keith Courtade (D): 4,847 (30%)

  • (i) Allison Miedema (OI-R): 11,136 (70%)

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.

For full Ottawa County results, visit miottawavotes.gov/ElectionResults/Files/NOV0524.html. 

— Contact Sarah Leach at SentinelLeach@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @SentinelLeach. Subscribe to her content at sentinelleach.substack.com.