Ottawa Democratic firebrand Chris Kleinjans announces bid for Michigan's 31st Senate seat

OTTAWA COUNTY — Chris Kleinjans still has the servant spirit inspiring him.

"My name is Chris Kleinjans and I'm a Democrat ... yes, that Democrat. And I'm running to be your next state senator," the Holland Township resident says in his website's campaign video.

The Ottawa County Democrat has announced his bid for Michigan’s 31st Senate seat, with current Republican Sen. Roger Victory terming out at the end of next year.

“I'm doing this because the system isn't set up for people like me to run,” Kleinjans said. “So I run because I'm obstinate. Someone has to do it, I can do it really hard, I know how to do it, and I don't mind losing another six months of life doing it. So here we go.”

Michigan’s 31st Senate District consists of portions of Allegan and Ottawa counties.

An Ottawa County household name

Kleinjans surged into the forefront of Ottawa County politics in late 2023, when the county’s Democratic Party selected him as their candidate to run against an Ottawa Impact Republican on the county board of commissioners in a special recall election.

The recall targeted then-commissioner Lucy Ebel, a member of the far-right political group, and Kleinjans ultimately defeated her by a 20% margin in May 2024. 

Read More: Meet the Democrat running against Lucy Ebel in the May recall election

Read more: Democrat Chris Kleinjans unseats Ottawa Impact Commissioner Lucy Ebel in special recall election

“It was a double-edged sword coming in the way that I came in, because there was a lot of animosity, a little bit of resentment, a little bit of grumpiness, a little bit of any number of things,” he said. 

The victory was short-lived, however, when Kleinjans was fired from his job as a community nutritional instructor at Michigan State University’s Extension office just weeks later. 

The school claimed his employment was “incompatible” with his newly elected office representing District 2 on the board of commissioners. Kleinjans claims he was fired from the school over political pressure from the far-right majority on the board.

He sued MSUE in June 2024, claiming the university violated his First Amendment rights when it gave him the ultimatum of taking an unpaid leave through the remainder of the year or face termination. 

Read More: MSU denies 'bowing' to Ottawa Impact pressure in response to Kleinjans lawsuit

He later added the county as a defendant in the lawsuit after emails revealed that former board chair Joe Moss, OI’s founder and president, attempted to pressure MSUE to fire Kleinjans while he ran in the recall election campaign.

The lawsuit remains ongoing; Moss was re-elected to the board in November and no longer serves as chair.

“Thinking back on that period … any of us that followed it or were in it, it was wild,” Kleinjans said. “I mean, that November was just bananas. People’s passions were high, and when passions are high, things get weird.”

When Kleinjans filed the lawsuit, he was already in the midst of running for re-election, as the partial term he secured in May last year was set to expire at the end of the year.

He said he doesn’t want the lawsuit to distract from what he’s trying to offer to voters.

“I realize that people are going to ask me about this when I'm out canvassing, and I'm going to be out canvassing. It's an unfortunate distraction,” he said. “Because really, when it comes down to the fundamentals and why I'm doing this, it’s based on what I've learned so far. It's based on the good that serving the people can accomplish when it's done in an honorable way. I still feel that what we're doing is an honorable thing, and I feel it'll turn out all right. It's just taking longer than I thought.”

He said the wheels of justice move slowly, and civil lawsuits take time to sort out. Kleinjans’ lawsuit was one of more than half a dozen filed against the OI-led board in 2023 and 2024.

“Well, obviously I would rather have had this resolved, but if there’s anything worse than trying to get two lawyers to find a workable date for mediation, it’s getting three lawyers to find one,” Kleinjans said. “I’m still very confident in our claim, and everything that’s come out thus far only confirms what I was told by MSUE admin back in November of 2023 regarding the actions of former chair Moss and MSUE.”

In the November general election, Kleinjans lost to Republican Jordan Jorritsma by just 237 votes, and the totality of the previous months took their toll.

Read More: Jorritsma ekes out upset win over Democrat Kleinjans in Ottawa County Board race

“After November, I was pretty bushed. It had been two complete campaigns back-to-back with an intense level of action right from the jump. We didn't have a long runway to get things going — from the time the recall was certified,” he said.

Kleinjans was tired, but not deterred.

“I loved serving the county. It was exhausting, because it was like the hardest part-time job ever.”

Why he’s giving elected office another shot

Kleinjans said he decided to jump back into politics because the 31st District seat in the Michigan Senate will be up for grabs in the fall 2026 election. He pointed to gains Democrats made in 2024, when Ottawa County bucked a statewide trend when it skewed two percentage points to the left.

“I looked at the returns after the election, and saw how locally Democrats outperformed the top of the Democratic ticket; 40% of this county is reliably Democratic voters,” he said. 

He said, as a Democrat who has previously won a county seat — which he says puts him “in a really small club” — he knows what it takes to win.

“I'm a Democrat. I worked on a commission where I was one of two Democrats and it was a little bit frosty — because of the way that I came in,” he said. “But I didn't spend all this equity and time and sweat and shoe leather helping move the Democratic Party forward in this county just to see everybody drop a ball on the midterms. It's on like ‘Donkey Kong.’”

Kleinjans said that, even though he didn’t stay on the county commission, the experience he gained was invaluable.

“I think coming out of that whole environment of 2022 to 2024 really helped ground me and … always focus on the fact that it is the common good and it is the benefit of everybody,” he said. “I want to get us back to that level of governance, where we're all cognizant of why we're doing it, and we're all willing to do a little bit of extra work for it, and to not have it be this coliseum-type event.

“You're working on behalf of the people. You should be honored to do it — never take it for granted.”

Why the state Senate?

Kleinjans said his experience at the county level helped him gain valuable skills that are sorely needed at the state and federal levels. 

“I've worked alongside other elected officials who I didn't agree with and certainly didn't agree with me — and made no bones about the fact that they didn't agree with me. You know, that's important to have at that next level in Lansing — to have been in some really intense decisions and discussions and events, because it's one thing to see it outside … it's another one to be in the room,” he said. 

“That kind of perspective is really important; it's necessary to have that balance. Sometimes I think the reason that things are kind of the way they are now, in addition to all the other reasons, is that there's not this kind of seasoning of starting out at a lower office and then going up to another higher office,” he said. “I think that what I can bring to it is a much more level-headed kind of approach. I really do try to believe in the best in people, because I think everybody deserves their shot, and everybody should have access to the tools they need to get where they want to get.” 

He said the dysfunction in Washington and Lansing isn’t new, and that it’s important to focus on how to move forward.

“It's a really weird time right now to be in politics. Sometimes it gets really loud,” he said. “If we can create a culture where we're reminded that this is a service, I think we'll get better results.” 

He pointed to Democrats holding majorities in all three branches of government in Lansing from 2022 to 2024 as the natural “give and take” of the two-party system.

“Two years ago, when the Democrats had the trifecta, they got some things done. And yes, those were some things that didn't really appeal to the GOP, but they were things that were part of the platform. However, there were a lot of things where there was a lot of agreement,” he said.

Republicans were able to make gains in both legislative houses in 2024, and now the GOP controls the House and Democrats have just a one-seat majority in the Senate. 

“The Dems have the Senate barely right now; this is a chance for a hard-working person to get a pickup. And I know how to work hard,” Kleinjans said.

He said one of the things that he can offer to constituents is that he’s a listener.

“I'm a big fan of not saying a lot and listening, because I think that is something that has gotten lost in our culture where, if you're not saying something, your relevance seems to decrease because of social media and stuff,” he said. “But I am a big fan of listening, and I'm a big fan of studying.”

He pointed to his background in history — he has degrees in youth services from Grand Rapids Community College, history and education from Grand Valley State University and a master's in public administration from GVSU. 

“Back when I was in college, one of my really good professors said being a good historian isn't knowing everything about history. It's knowing where to look,” he said. “A lot of people think that historians wander around with dates and people locked in their heads — and we do because we're weird — but it's knowing where to go, where to find the material and how to tell if the material is good that determines how interpreting history is accomplished. 

“I feel it's the same way in politics.”

What would he do if elected?

Kleinjans said he has three main goals that he wants to discuss while on the campaign trail: housing, mental health care and food security, particularly for children.

“I don't see a lot of the things that I support as being incredibly partisan,” he said. “We all want houses. We all want a strong and robust CMH system that takes care of our residents. We all don't want kids hungry at school. These are things that I feel are good jumping-off points. The difference is in the approach.”

Kleinjans is passionate about creating solutions for the housing crisis that plagues most parts of the country, West Michigan included.

“Even before it cost an additional 20% to build a house, which we now have to deal with because of the tariffs, housing was and is expensive; developments are expensive. It's an incredibly complex beast,” he said. “I have yet to meet someone who says that we've got just enough housing. If anything, I want my kids to live closer. I want my grandkids to live closer. I don't want my kid living in my basement. We all see the need.” 

He applied to serve on the Ottawa County Housing Commission; the new moderate Republican majority, along with the four OI commissioners who remain on the board, voted against adding Kleinjans to the subcommittee when they made appointments at the beginning of the year.

“I don't see a lot of the things that I support as being incredibly partisan. We all want houses. We all want a strong and robust CMH system that takes care of our residents. We all don't want kids hungry at school. These are things that I feel are good jumping-off points. The difference is in the approach.” — Chris Kleinjans

“What I wanted to do, at that point, was blow up the Ottawa County Housing Commission, metaphorically speaking,” he said, “and really bring a lot of people to the table — a lot more people.”

He said housing should be a conversation between all stakeholders, including the nonprofits, the developers, the funders, the municipalities and the state.

“You want Lakeshore Habitat. You want Jubilee. And you want Dwelling Place … but you also want, for example, someone from Wolverine [Construction]. You want some people from the larger financial groups that can be the top-line funder for some programs. 

“You want a big table, because this is an incredibly complex issue,” he said.

Kleinjans, who has a 25-year history working in the nonprofit sector — including the development of educational programming for the Holland Historical Trust and his time at MSUE — currently works as the housing community impact officer for the Allegan County Community Foundation.

He said the state local units of government can work on adjusting zoning laws to accommodate new developments, but the state also has a role to play.

“If a municipality wanted to do some work on zoning to make things a little bit … more development-friendly, maybe there's a way to come in and assist with that so that it reduces build costs. The state is helping prime the pump a little bit to get those things going,” he said. “There's a lot of statewide entities that are leaning into helping local units do the work.”

He said housing will continue to be one of the most pressing issues the state and, more importantly, his district, will face. 

“We have a Senate district that has a lot of ALICE population,” he said, referencing those residents who are classified as asset limited, income constrained and employed, meaning they earn more than the federal poverty level, but still struggle to afford the basic cost of living, such as housing, food and healthcare.

“That is a population that is pretty consistently paying more than 30% of their monthly income towards their housing, which puts them in a really delicate situation,” Kleinjans said. “We need to be more engaged and more interconnected with the discussion of getting housing everywhere, literally everywhere, and as a state, raise the amount of stock, and in doing so, kind of drop some of the prices and create an environment where everybody has housing that's accessible to their income as well as their location. 

He said development can be a touchy subject in many communities, as existing residents are resistant to change and expansion.

“That's a tough conversation, because zoning is hyper-local and hyper-passionate, but it's important to not let the heat of the crowd, as we've sometimes seen in local politics, detract from the long-term good for the project,” Kleinjans said. “I feel that if the Legislature leans in a little bit more, they can help facilitate making some of those conversations easier.”

He also said developments should be discussed at length with communities to get early buy-in, rather than quick approval with little discussion.

“I’m a big believer that these conversations take place over months, not hours, and you want to make sure that everyone's bought in,” he said. “I think we can do some stuff to encourage local units of government to reinvestigate their zoning to create the things that allow for a wider variety of housing styles and types to be built where there's already infrastructure.”

Kleinjans is also passionate about community mental health, having previously served on Ottawa County’s CMH board of directors both before and during his tenure as a commissioner.

He said cuts championed by the Trump Administration in July and approved by congressional Republicans include significant funding cuts and policy changes to Medicaid and the Health Insurance Marketplaces, Medicare physician payment and medical student loans, among other health care-related items, all of which will worsen patient access to care, according to the American Medical Association.

“CMH funding relies quite a bit on Medicaid, which flows through [the Department of Health and Human Services] and into the counties, through the Lakeshore Regional Entity,” Kleinjans explained. “That system, which came about after the last period of economic instability 25 years ago, resulted in the regionalization and the operation under the LRE. Now we're looking at it and going, ‘Oh, well, this isn't right.’” 

He said the state government can help in conducting better oversight of the departments for which it has purview. 

“I am not at all a big fan of privatizing components of the mental health system. I have yet to see anything that's privatized that worked — that operated either more efficiently or more economically than a government service, particularly when it comes to health care and mental health care,” he said. 

He pointed to Ottawa County being unique in that it was one of the first counties in the state to approve a county-wide mental health millage, but the millage has limitations. 

“The county millage was a groundbreaker when it was passed. It was designed for a very specific use, and it was designed to specifically handle things that weren't Medicaid-eligible,” he said. “Well, if Medicaid isn't covering what needs to be covered, the millage is kind of like a blanket that's just a little bit too short — you can stretch it and pull it and it can do different things, but it can't quite cover what you really needed to cover.”

He said even if county voters were to re-approve the millage when it appears on ballots in 2026, there will still be an existing “untenable system.”

“What I'd like to see from the state level is a top-down sort of assessment of how we're doing this,” Kleinjans said. “A Medicaid-eligible person who's 65 and above is a very different individual than an 18-year-old who is becoming an adult and has a severe cognitive impairment and is going to need complex and nuanced services for the remainder of their life. 

“Those differentials are something that needs to be addressed. Do we have the ability at the state level to address these concerns? Or come up with mechanisms within the state to make up that difference? Or is it always going to be a 1-to-1 ratio?”

He also pointed to the rise in autism diagnosis rates, as doctors and researchers are learning more about the neurodevelopmental disorder.

“With the rise in the ability to diagnose autism earlier, and the realization that autism is a multifaceted, nuanced thing that requires a wide modality of treatment options to assist people with being as successful as they can be, these conversations are things I feel we should have as a state,” Kleinjans said. “This is something we owe our residents.”

He said his political and career experiences uniquely position him to help in that space.

“I've spent time in Lansing with my new position, doing advocacy and things like that, and when you talk as two people that want to get something done, and you're doing it with a little bit of humility, you can get some good things … you can approach each other with a little bit more humanity and grace,” he said.

Kleinjans also said that although state officials finally approved a budget last week — which funded meals in schools — the issue needs to stop being a political football every time the budget comes around and the party in power changes.

“I was very disappointed when the state House removed the free breakfast and lunch program that had been implemented just a couple of years earlier, when the Democrats had the trifecta,” he said, referencing House Republican efforts to strip the funding prior to the budget’s approval. 

“I worked in schools a lot in my previous work with my employer, and when I was working in nutrition education, I witnessed firsthand the impact that well-fed students have on the culture of a school,” he said. 

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He said food insecurity is one of the biggest challenges of ALICE households, as well as those below the poverty line.

“We've all been hangry. We all know how hard it is to negotiate just about anything when you're hangry. Now, try being hangry and going through adolescence. I would like to work diligently on getting that broken out and put back in as a mandated piece,” he said. “Repeated studies going back 10 years have shown that disciplinary problems decrease, student performance increases, absenteeism decreases.

“It's not the child's fault, so the child shouldn't be punished for it. That's too important to dissolve it and leave it up to the districts themselves,” he said.

Kleinjans, a U.S. Navy veteran, is married to wife, Sarah; the couple shares two sons and has one grandchild.

Learn more about Kleinjans and his campaign at secure.actblue.com/donate/kleinjans or find him on Facebook.

— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at sleach@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Follow her on Twitter @ONNLeach.