Two years ago, six Ottawa County Republican commissioners were censured by the Ottawa County GOP for encouraging Democrats to vote for them in the August Primary Elections. Despite his efforts, County Commissioner Candidate for District 9, Phil Kuyers, lost his 2022 primary race. Out of the six 2022, so-called Republican, censured candidates only one won his race: Roger Bergman. The other establishment commissioners lost, Including Phil Kuyers, Matt Fenske, Al Dannenberg, Greg DeJong, and Randy Meppelink. As ballots go out for the August 2024 primaries, Kuyers is once again partnering with Democrats, and just like in 2022, Kuyers is not the only Republican supported by Democrats, with some others being District 5 candidate Mark Northrup and District 10 candidate Josh Brugger.
Vote Common Good West Michigan is an organization created by a self-identified progressive evangelical pastor that “is inspiring, energizing, and mobilizing people of faith and goodwill to make the common good their voting criteria.” During a recent Vote Common Good interview with Phil Kuyers, host Nick Brock clarified, “a common good candidate self-selects to promote the common good in their political campaign and their political discourse.” Candidates endorsed by Vote Common Good must commit to leading with the values of trustworthy leadership, responsible governance, genuine belonging, ethical conduct and service before self. While these values sound good, they are actually a play-on-words meant to appeal emotionally to the average citizen, thereby hiding the true plan of the progressive movement leaders.
Current Hudsonville Mayor and District 5 county commissioner candidate Mark Northrup is endorsed by Vote Common Good.
Here is Northrup pictured with the head of the Ottawa County Democratic Party Larry Jackson. You may remember Larry Jackson as the brilliant mastermind of the ridiculously false smear campaign that claimed the board of commissioners voted themselves 60% pay increases.
County Commissioner District 9 and 10 candidates, Phil Kuyers and Josh Brugger were recently interviewed by Nick Brock at Vote Common Good West Michigan. During the interview Kuyers stated, “a lot of people that are helping me are Democrats.” In his interview, Brugger prided himself on being a moderate Republican and explored the idea of making the office of county commissioner non-partisan. Click on the image below for a few short clips from the Kuyers interview.
In this social media post, a Democrat in the left-wing extremist Facebook group Ottawa Objects refers to a conversation with Kuyers and encourages other Democrats to cross-over into the Republican primaries to vote for Kuyers.
Organize Ottawa, a related group to Ottawa Objects also encourages Democrat cross-over into Republican primaries.
If you were to peruse the Vote Common Good website, you will see numerous references to democracy and the common good. What you do not see are any references to our actual form of government (constitutional democratic republic), the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, or candidates seeking to preserve the liberties of American citizens. It is all feel good nonsense that is not rooted in foundational principles of limited government. Having read enough progressive Social Justice articles over the years, I interpret this organization to be just another vector for the cancerous disease known as progressivism to continue spreading in Ottawa County. To me, their values contribute to the continued incremental creep of a big, intrusive government that favors taking actions demanded by the mob rather than protecting the voice and rights of the minority. For example, think back to how the previous board of commissioners allowed the county health department to stomp on the rights of businesses and individuals during the days of unconstitutional COVID-19 mandates.
Unfortunately, Michigan is an open-primary state, so voters lacking scruples are free to vote in another party’s primary. Several August 2024 Ottawa County primary races have at least two Republican candidates running for office. In most races one candidate closely adheres to the Republican Party platform and the other candidate aligns more closely with the progressive agenda. True Republicans support the Constitution and individual liberties, and do not compromise on key policy issues. When you vote in the primary election, be sure to know the Constitutional principles of the Republican you are voting for.