GRAND HAVEN — A sitting Democratic U.S. senator was convicted of 16 counts of federal bribery and corruption this month and he’s expected to resign in August.

It marked the latest example of politicians embroiled in the criminal justice system, however, national interest appeared low, as headlines over the attempted assassination of presidential hopeful Donald Trump and President Joe Biden withdrawing from the race seemed to capture the nation’s interest.

The U.S. Constitution does not specifically disqualify candidates for public office over past convictions, as Trump — who was convicted of 34 felonies of falsifying business records in May — still secured the Republican nomination with ease.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa County’s District 10, an Ottawa Impact Republican candidate for the Board of Commissioners has a criminal felony history and says it shouldn’t matter when voters cast their ballot in the Aug. 6 primary.

In a world long removed from immediate resignations and withdrawals at a whiff of scandal, it begs the question: Does a criminal history matter when voters consider who represents them in government?

How we got here

Ottawa Impact is a far-right fundamentalist group formed in 2021 over frustrations with the county and state over COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Since taking office in January 2023, OI commissioners pushed through a series of controversial decisions, resulting in several lawsuits against the county.

This year, OI commissioner incumbents and new countywide candidates are running against traditional conservatives and the divisions seen in summer 2022 have resurfaced and only deepened within the local Republican Party.

There also are OI-backed commissioner candidates challenging more traditional Republicans to compete for seats on the 11-member board.

What’s happening in District 10

Jason Koert is an OI-backed Republican running in District 10, which includes the cities of Ferrysburg and Grand Haven and portions of Spring Lake Township.

He is one of two Republicans running for the seat that will be vacated by longtime Commissioner Roger Bergman, who announced late last year that he would retire at the end of his current term.

That prompted Koert and traditional Republican Josh Brugger, along with Democrats Oliver Shampine and Douglas L.P. VanBennekom to seek the seat, making it one of the most crowded districts on the upcoming primary ballot.

What makes the race unique, however, is Koert’s criminal history, which includes what he describes as a “Romeo and Juliet” case in 1998 when he was 17 years old and his then-girlfriend was younger than the legal age of consent.

“As a young man, I made a poor choice,” Koert wrote in a letter to district residents on June 5. “Prior to that mistake, I had been recruited to train for law enforcement. The consequences of my actions removed that career opportunity and my life went into a downward spiral.”

That included landing on the state’s sex offender registry for the next decade for a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction.

“I was wild,” he said in an interview. “I was going to be a police officer. And it ended my dreams. It ended a lot of dreams. I mean, for a lot of people, it destroyed lives.”

Then came two felony convictions in 2004 for two counts of delivery of less than 5 kilograms of marijuana.

“I started making poor choices,” he said, “from 17 to about 23 … partying, got into pot. Then one day, a buddy said: ‘Jason, you have two options. You either change your life, or you have jail or death, because you're living a horrible life like this. It’s stupid, what you’re doing.’”

Koert said that inspired him to clean up his act. He’s led a crime-free life since 2004. After some legislative reforms in 2011, he was no longer required to be on the registry, and he opened a carpet cleaning business in 2012. He married and started a family.

However, the conviction and the drug charges remained on his record.

“Personally experiencing the power of the law — although intended for good, often crushes the lives of young people — has led me down a road of personal and political advocacy,” he said in his letter to voters last month.

In 2021, he decided to pursue expungement to clear the CSC and drug charges from his record, after the state reformed marijuana possession laws in 2018 and allowed previous convictions to be expunged potentially.

A circuit court ruled that the drug charges could be expunged, but not the CSC conviction; the Michigan Court of Appeals later reversed that in February this year. Two months later, he filed to run as an Ottawa County commissioner.

Court of Appeals Koert Decision 02.2024318KB ∙ PDF fileDownloadRead the Court of Appeals decision that reversed a lower court ruling denying Jason Koert's request to expunge his criminal record.Download

The Spring Lake native said he finally felt free but knew his past would be a part of the discussion.

“Twenty-something years later, having the opportunity to be free … now I'm going to go into the public realm and everyone will know and have this in the paper … and all over and, you know, all the opinions people form — good and bad,” he said.

He said voters shouldn’t be too quick to judge him on his past and to keep an open mind.

“It’s called restorative justice,” he said. “Why would someone want to tear anyone down for fighting for 28 years to finally have their name cleared from something that happened in high school? To me, it’s actually sad. It looks bad on both sides … the people attacking it, it’s going the opposite. I’ve gotten messages from people and emails and calls saying, ‘Thank you for being transparent. We are now voting for you.’”

He said he aligns with the Ottawa Impact message and bonded with them through faith and shared family values.

“Do you want to protect your children? Do you want to have them have a real education, not indoctrination? Do you want to have public safety be at the forefront? Do you want to make sure we're not spending money on programs that aren't useful? Really, when it boils down to it, they speak my language,” he said.

What opponents have to say

What traditional Republicans find problematic about Koert’s criminal history is that it’s inconsistent with the Ottawa Impact brand, which promotes “freedom, faith and family.”

“Many people go through transitions in their lives, and what may have happened with Mr. Koert when he was younger, I respect the fact that he claims to be leading a more circumspect life,” said John “Field” Reichardt, a Grand Haven resident and well-known local politico.

“But just as when we look at our national figures, when things in their past are discovered and discussed and sometimes they are forced to withdraw or resign from different offices, I think in this case, I'm wondering why he's running and running so defensively. I also think that it's a sign of how Ottawa Impact is not so good in their vetting. …. Ottawa Impact is supposed to vet its candidates. They didn't do a very good job on this one.”

Koert’s opponent in the Republican primary said factors such as criminal histories should be up to voters on how to interpret.

“I am a Republican. Regardless of party affiliation, I have always done my best to live out traditional values. I am far from perfect, but I have never been on the registered sex offender list nor have I ever smoked marijuana, let alone possessed ‘five kilos or less’ of it with intent to sell it,” Brugger said. “I recognize that today the use of cannabis is legal in the state of Michigan for those over the age of 21 and I respect everyone's right to use it responsibly.”

He doesn’t begrudge Koert’s ability to turn one’s life around.

“I’m glad for Jason that he was able to get these offenses expunged from his record before he decided to run and that we have a criminal justice system that offers second and third chances,” Brugger said. “I’m grateful to my family and to our community for the values we teach our children to aspire to uphold. While not perfect, I’ll do my best to continue to uphold these values should voters elect me in August and in November.”

Koert said he had coffee with Brugger shortly after filing as a candidate in late April.

The tone of the conversation is vastly different, depending on who tells the story. Koert said Brugger “straight up” threatened him with his history, although he admitted that Brugger said he would not directly attack him via the campaign.

“He straight up said he's worried for me and my children. He said, ‘Not me, but my people are going to do horrible things, mailers, billboards, calling you all these names.’ And he's like, “I’m just telling you, if you don't drop out, it's going to be bad.”

Brugger confirmed that the coffee conversation took place — pointing out that he met with the two Democrats running, too — but said he genuinely was concerned for Koert after a supporter brought the previous convictions to his attention.

“I went in there to say, ‘Jason, do you realize what is very likely going to happen in this campaign with your criminal record being criminal sexual conduct … basically statutory rape as defined whenever it happened in the ‘90s. And then on top of that dealing drugs, felony drug charges?’

Brugger said, having served previously on Grand Haven City Council and running unsuccessfully for mayor, he had experience with how grueling and dirty political campaigns can be.

Sentinel Leach is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

“Having run in a campaign where mud gets slung and you have no control over it … I was very concerned for him,” Brugger said.

Despite the two interpretations of the conversation, Brugger pointed to the fact that no mailers, billboards or other messaging has focused on Koert’s criminal history.

“It’s disheartening to learn that, in his mind, what I said to him, out of care and concern for his family, was perceived as a threat,” Brugger said.

The primary election is Aug. 6.

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