UNDATED (WHTC-AM/FM, Mar. 21, 2022) – The local candidates are starting to emerge for the 2022 election.
On Monday, two-term Holland Mayor Nancy DeBoer formally announced her bid for the Republican nomination in the newly-created 86th state House district. After 10 years as an at-large City Council member, DeBoer became the Tulip City’s first female mayor in 2015, beating out Bob Vande Vusse, and won reelection two years later in a close race against Jay Peters before losing out in 2019 to current Mayor Nathan Bocks. The district will not have an incumbent running for reelection, as Republican Jim Lilly is term-limited out of office.
Earlier this month, one-time State Representative Daniela Garcia threw her hat into the ring for a District 3 Ottawa County Board seat. The Republican apparently will be looking to unseat the lone Democrat on the panel, Doug Zylstra, who was elected in 2018. Garcia served two terms in the House before losing to Roger Victory in the 2018 GOP state senate primary.
Allegan County Board Chairman Jim Storey (R-Holland) is also a veteran campaign leader, and over the past few weeks, he has announced that current Allegan County Circuit Court Judge Marge Bakker will be seeking reelection (she has been on the bench since 2011), and that Ottawa County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Paul Kraus will vie for the newly created seat on the Ottawa County Circuit Court.
The filing deadline for candidates is April 19th.
