BALLPARK VALUES
I love writing about the good and the beautiful, but once in a while, there is a need to share hard truths. This piece is that. I hope you find it helpful in navigating the 2024 election.
At a recent event with Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk told the audience, “Everyone of you deserves a Republican Party as conservative as you are. Period. You deserve your leaders and your leadership to at least be in the same ballpark as your values.”
For too long, America has been led by individuals in local and national seats who are not honest or transparent about what they believe— or lack the backbone to act on their convictions, leading to a government which misrepresents the people it was created to serve. Politicians say what they wish to be elected, but once in office, they serve political interests and leave the people who elected them behind.
Such a disconnect was clear in Ottawa County before 2023, as evidenced by widespread government overreach during the Covid-19 pandemic, the county’s partnership with a divisive, Biden-aligned DEI organization, and the promotion of Planned Parenthood materials through the Health Department.
In June, Joe Moss and I had the opportunity to share our work in correcting Ottawa County’s misalignment at Turning Point Action’s The People’s Conference in Detroit, MI. Since 2023, the new Board has worked hard to protect the heritage of Ottawa County by prioritizing freedom, family, and American values.
(Read Cultivating a Beautiful Ottawa for future Pro America priorities for our county.)
But is misrepresentation again possible in Ottawa County?
DEMOCRAT RESISTANCE AND POLITICAL COORDINATION
The courageous actions of the new Board quickly attracted the attention of Democrat activists and media at the local, state, and national levels, resulting in Democrat activist lawfare and well over 300 false hit pieces written against the conservative Board. The political coordination of media and lawfare with progressive and Democrat organizations and candidates has been clear.
Journalist Sarah Leach, who has written most of the headlines against the Board of Commissioners, has headlined numerous political events with the Democrat Party, progressive organizations, and Democrat candidates. The most recent event with Leach was hosted by Progressive Lakeshore on October 8, 2024.
Attorney Sarah Howard, once a Democrat candidate for State Senate, has brought three lawsuits against Ottawa County’s conservative Board. Howard hosted a fundraiser and campaign launch for Democrat candidate for county commissioner in Allendale, Becky Patrick. Additional hosts for the event included progressive activists Kim Cannata, Aaron Haight, Meegan Zickus, and others. Remarks at the event were provided by Commissioner Doug Zylstra (D-Holland), Ottawa County Democratic Party Chair Larry Jackson, and former Democratic Party Chair/current Vice Chair Kim Nagy.
Following the August Primary Election, attorney Sarah Howard headlined an event to celebrate DEI-champion Phil Kuyers’ win. Kuyers defeated Commissioner Roger Belknap in the Republican Primary, with the promotion of Democrat crossover votes.
Howard also moderated an event for Progressive Lakeshore on September 24, 2024, called “Put a Woman in Charge,” promoting multiple female Democrat candidates for political office.
Political activists are creating and publishing chaos and false accusations, and then running candidates with a promise to “restore reason” by putting progressive Democrats and weak/fake Republicans in charge.
PROGRESSIVE LAKESHORE & PATRICK
Democrats often use “non-partisan” organizations to oppose strong Republicans and promote their agendas and candidates. One of the most prominent organizations, Progressive Lakeshore, has been present in Ottawa County for over a decade. The group has historically promoted Democrat politicians such as Gretchen Whitmer and Debbie Stabenow, and Democratic Party policies such as abortion.
On March 11, 2024, Progressive Lakeshore announced their newest Steering Team members, which included Becky Patrick, Marcia Mansaray, Sheila Detloff, and Cynthia Spielmaker. Progressive Lakeshore describes itself as “a nonpartisan, women-led organization working to connect, inform & grow the progressive community.” In truth, it is a front for Democrat activist efforts.
Marcia Mansaray was appointed to Progressive Lakeshore’s steering committee alongside Becky Patrick. Mansaray is a Democrat candidate for the Michigan House running against Rep. Brad Slagh (R). As Ottawa County’s former Deputy Health Officer, Mansaray was in leadership of the Health Department during the Covid era, was involved with actions against private schools, and coordinated the issuance of the tyrannical Covid-19 mask order which led to the 1K parent meeting at the Board of Commissioners.
Since Democrat candidate Becky Patrick’s appointment to the Steering Team of Progressive Lakeshore, the group has promoted:
- Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Tim Waltz and other Democrat candidates
- Abortion and reproductive rights
- DEI and LGBTQ+ issues
- Illegal Immigration
- Transgender ideology in schools
- False and disparaging Christian Nationalism narratives
- White Christians as racist narratives
In the same time period, Progressive Lakeshore has posted in opposition to:
- President Trump, JD Vance, Robert Kennedy, and Elon Musk
- Republicans
- The Heritage Foundation
- Moms for Liberty
- Ottawa Impact, painted as extremists
- Election Integrity concerns
- School vouchers
- Conservative school board members, painted as extremists
And yet, Patrick’s leadership in progressive Democrat activism extends further.
ADDITIONAL DEMOCRAT-LED ORGANIZATIONS
Vote Common Good and Ottawa Integrity were active in Ottawa County in 2022, with additional progressive groups forming under Organize Ottawa during the current election cycle. These groups and their candidates are committed to the “common good” (a socialist value), “good governance” (a get-along, do-nothing, UniParty. model), and restoring DEI (using verbiage such as inclusion and belonging) to the county bureaucracy.
Organize Ottawa and its district-based subgroups worked with weak Republican candidates and actively promoted Democrat crossover votes in the Republican Primary in order to unseat strong Republican commissioners. At least one of Organize Ottawa’s co-founders has also been actively involved with Progressive Lakeshore.
Democrat candidate Becky Patrick is a Steering Team member of the Allendale Area Action Team, a district group of Organize Ottawa. Organize Ottawa has unsurprisingly endorsed Patrick in her bid for Allendale’s county commissioner seat.
For the November general election, Organize Ottawa has now changed several of their endorsements to Democrats in races in which it previously endorsed weak Republicans. (Read The Playing Field for more information on the alliance of Democrats and weak Republicans to unseat strong conservatives in the Republican Primary.)
CAMPAIGN TRANSPARENCY
While campaigning, progressive activist Becky Patrick has presented herself to the greater Allendale community as running on transparency, reason, fiscal responsibility, and good governance, with the word Democrat absent from most of her campaign materials.
Patrick has argued cultural issues are not relevant to the county commissioner role, although Democrat cultural policies and DEI ideology on sexuality, gender, race, and Planned Parenthood/abortion have been promoted by Ottawa County and its Board of Commissioners in the past. (Read Truth in Local Government for more information.)
Patrick hopes to ride the tails of the Harris/Waltz presidential campaign efforts at GVSU to gain enough support from Democrat students to override the strong majority of Republican voters in the community. In soliciting help from volunteers, Patrick wrote:
“The main event going forward will be to **leverage what the Harris campaign is doing at GVSU** and TALK TO THE STUDENTS about how they can make a difference here.”
Personal reports from students and others, supported by election data, suggest Democrat-leaning students have been increasingly encouraged to register to vote— to the neglect of Republican students, during on-campus voter drives at GVSU over the last few election cycles. This may contribute to Patrick’s hope of the possibility of GVSU students overriding the conservative community vote in Allendale.
A DUAL CAMPAIGN
Patrick’s marketing to GVSU students includes progressive campaign issues which have not been presented in her marketing to the greater Allendale community:
MAILING TO GVSU STUDENTS
On-campus access to contraception & reproductive health services
Working on climate change here and now
A county government that is inclusive and accepting of all
ON CAMPUS LIT FOR STUDENTS
Help make Ottawa County a place where everyone belongs again!
Access to reproductive health services
Environmental sustainability
Inclusive and accepting government
GVSU COLLEGE DEMOCRATS
In a Facebook post which opens with, “What the hell is going on in Ottawa County?”, Patrick is promoted by the GVSU College Democrats as:
Leading voice in fight against Ottawa Impact
Pro-LGBTQ+
Pro-Reproductive Health
Pro-Fiscal Responsibility
The GVSU College Democrats’ post opposes changing the county motto to Where Freedom Rings, opposes closing the DEI office, and opposes passing the Resolution to Protect Childhood Innocence and the Resolution to Promote Life. The Resolution to Protect Childhood Innocence is called “homophobic”, and the Resolution to Promote Life was erroneously blamed for making abortion care more difficult in Ottawa County. (Did the Health Department have plans we didn’t know about?)
A note on GVSU: In 2022, the Ottawa County Department of Public Health began partnering in a radical sex ed week for students at GVSU, as exposed by The Midwesterner in 2023. Conservative students have expressed their desire for county government– including the Health Department, to not promote sexuality activism on the GVSU campus. Their voices matter in our community as well.
As a Democrat candidate, Patrick has additionally advertised for at least one GVSU event with Congresswoman Hillary Scholten.
NON-TRANSPARENT
Patrick’s leadership with Progressive Lakeshore and the Allendale Area Action Team/Organize Ottawa effort, as well as her vastly different communications with GVSU students, reveal Patrick is not who she implies while targeting the greater Allendale community.
In a strong, conservative community, you would be hard pressed to win on the Democratic Party platform of divisive DEI, the LGBTQ+ agenda, the sexualization and gender transition of children, aborting babies in the womb, and climate change. This is not a platform of reason. But such a platform is better received by progressive students attending GVSU.
Can we trust a candidate who runs two different campaigns based on perceived audience beliefs to be transparent once in office? Which belief set will she govern by? (Read Truth in Local Government for more on why beliefs matter in county government.)
UNREASONED
Patrick has expressed her trust in Public Health, the need for the Board to trust employees as experts, and to grant the financial requests of county bureaucracy– rather than ask questions. Patrick has a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of government, the role of a county commissioner, and the risk of government bureaucracy that is left unchecked and unaccountable to the people. Perhaps Patrick has forgotten the experience of so many families and children during the Covid era, or perhaps she agrees with the Health Department’s actions during that time.
Patrick demonstrates selective concern for fiscal responsibility, expressing frequent outrage over the cost of the lawfare her own political allies have brought against the county, while ignoring the responsibility of those bringing it. Do we elect Democrats because they will otherwise hold us hostage to their activist lawfare?
Patrick offers constant critique of the conservative Board on process and finance, but was silent on the non-transparent process of decisions made by the prior Board to spend most of the $57M in ARPA funds on Covid bonuses for county employees, as well as nongovernmental services by nonprofits, including $10M to a progressive nonprofit housing lender out of Chicago with little accountability. Perhaps critique is dependent on whether or not government funding is extended to Democrat allies.
Contrary to news media and Democrat talking points, Ottawa County is in an excellent financial position with strong savings, a clean audit, and a AAA bond rating. The county has excellent legal counsel which has greatly improved protective processes and county contracts— despite the incessant Democrat activist law fare they have had to defend against. More on the misinformation of the media and the true standing of the county is available in Media vs. Facts.
THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE BRAVE
We are in a critical moment for our communities and for America. Those of us who love our country, our children, and our God, need to recognize the chaos now brought against strong, convicted leaders who stand against the left. The “Trump Treatment” of media smears and lawfare is alive and well in Ottawa County, as is the intimidation of conservatives.
I am not completely surprised by the intensity of Democrat push back the Board has experienced, as Ottawa County is on the front lines in the effort to restore our state and America. As Americans, we cannot allow harmful progressive ideologies to be imposed on and become the norm for our children and families. We need to stand together for truth, and we need leaders with discernment and backbone to defend our piece of America.
The difference could not be more distinct. While Becky Patrick has in many respects hidden her Democrat activism and beliefs from much of the Allendale community, she has been more honest in her efforts to solicit the GVSU student vote with her alignment with the Harris/Waltz campaign there.
I agree with Charlie Kirk:
“Every one of you deserves a Republican Party as conservative as you are. Period. You deserve your leaders and your leadership to at least be in the same ballpark as your values.”
The same applies to your county commissioner.