DeBoer, Clark, Matwiejczyk win primaries for Ottawa County offices

OTTAWA COUNTY — A trio of candidates with years of experience in their respective county offices defeated challengers in the sheriff, prosecutor and treasurer races on Tuesday.

Eric DeBoer, Cheryl Clark and Sarah Matwiejczyk will now appear on the ballot in November for sheriff, treasurer and prosecutor, respectively. All three are current or former seconds-in-command at their department and are seeking election for the first time.

DeBoer defeated Interim County Administrator Jon Anderson, Clark defeated Ben Genser and Matwiejczyk defeated Greg Todd.

Anderson, Genser and Todd were endorsed by the Ottawa County GOP alongside Ottawa Impact candidates for the board of commissioners.

Elsewhere in the county, Clerk Justin Roebuck and Water Resources Commissioner Joe Bush ran unopposed in the primary. Roebuck does not have a Democrat opponent in November. Bush will face Democrat Karen Matchett, who ran unopposed in the primary.

Ottawa County Sheriff

DeBoer won the primary with 60.1% of the vote. He received 39,939 votes compared to Anderson's 26,498.

DeBoer was appointed undersheriff by Sheriff Steve Kempker earlier this year after Valerie Weiss announced her retirement. DeBoer joined OCSO as a reserve deputy in 1999 and has held several roles in the department since.

Anderson was made interim county administrator on March 12. He co-owns Bullet Hole Firearms and Training in Holland and is a retired sheriff's commander with 32 years of law enforcement experience.

DeBoer earned the endorsement of the surrounding counties' sheriffs and Kempker, as well as several state representatives, but Anderson earned the support of OCSO unions.

DeBoer will run unopposed in November.

Treasurer

Clark received 62.5% of the votes in the treasurer primary, defeating Genser 40,523-24,280.

Before her appointment, Clark served 15 years as deputy treasurer. She also spent a decade as treasurer in Robinson Township.

Genser is a private client advisor and vice president of investments for J.P. Morgan. Before that, he spent six years as a vice president and multi-site manager with Chase.

Clark will face Independent Diane Fikse in November.

Prosecutor

Matwiejczyk earned earned 59.6% of the votes to win the primary. She had 39,289 votes compared to Todd's 26,632.

Matwiejczyk is an assistant prosecutor in Ottawa County. She's been with the department for over 20 years. Her work has included cases in district, circuit and family courts.

Todd is a lawyer from Grand Haven. He’s been a practicing attorney since 2007 and founded Polaris Law PLC in 2015. He specializes in business, real estate and probate.

Matwiejczyk will run unopposed in November.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: DeBoer, Clark, Matwiejczyk win primaries for Ottawa County offices