The former commissioner defeats the Ottawa Impact member who unseated him in the District 9 primary

OTTAWA COUNTY, MI — Phil Kuyers won the primary race between two Republicans for the District 9 seat on the Ottawa Board of Commissioners.

The race featured incumbent Commissioner Roger Belknap against Phil Kuyers, a former commissioner who lost his seat in the 2022 election.

Kuyers got 4,070 votes (57.6%), while Belknap got 2,997 votes (42.4%), according to unofficial Ottawa County election results released Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 12:17 p.m. with 12 out of 12 wards fully reported.

Belknap is affiliated with the ultra-conservative political platform Ottawa Impact, whose members won a majority on the Ottawa County board after the 2022 election.

The majority faction made sweeping changes upon taking office in January 2023, including firing Administrator John Shay, disbanding the county’s diversity office and attempting to fire the county health officer.

Kuyers lost in the August 2022 primary by about 300 votes, with Belknap getting 3,027 votes.

Before that, Kuyers served as a county commissioner from 2000 to 2022.

District 9 covers Grand Haven Charter Township, Robinson Township and Spring Lake Township Precinct 5.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Angela Stanford-Butler in the November general election.

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