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Ottawa County Commission District 8

When Truth Votes asked 5 questions of all candidates.

All responses come directly from the candidates and are unedited by When Truth Votes. When Truth Votes does not support or oppose any candidates or political parties.

1. Do morals come from God or the majority?

Rebecca Patrick

Democrat

Please check out my public social media post on this subject. I’ve linked it below, for your convenience. Feel free to share and use that post as my response to your Candidate Questionnaire. Thank you! Facebook Post

Sylvia Rhodea

Republican

Morals come from God, not the majority. God has given us a perfect standard for morality in the Bible. God does not waiver and His Word stands as objective truth throughout time.

A conscience is only as good as the moral standard that informs it. Human beings, left to their own devises, and influenced by a minority or majority, can go horribly astray. Human beings are imperfect and susceptible to personal choices and societal pressures which lead to moral decline.

Moral decline by majority and/or a powerful minority is observable in California and other government entities which now promote exposing obscene sexual content to children as good and virtuous. It is also seen in communist movements which have led to the death of millions over the last century.

2. Are there only 2 genders, male and female?

Rebecca Patrick

Democrat

Please check out my public social media post on this subject. I’ve linked it below, for your convenience. Feel free to share and use that post as my response to your Candidate Questionnaire. Thank you! Facebook Post

Sylvia Rhodea

Republican

There are only two genders, male and female. God created males with XY chromosomes, and females with XX chromosomes, as reflected in cells throughout our bodies. This truth was vastly undisputed ten years ago.

Within the past five years, gender dysphoria and medical intervention to facilitate gender transition have greatly increased in the United States, largely spread through social media and activists utilizing the education system to share gender identity ideology with suggestible and vulnerable children.

Children and individuals struggling with gender dysphoria should be treated with love and compassion, while speaking truth about biological gender.

3. Do parents or the government know what is best to teach a child?

Rebecca Patrick

Democrat

Please check out my public social media post on this subject. I’ve linked it below, for your convenience. Feel free to share and use that post as my response to your Candidate Questionnaire. Thank you! Facebook Post

Sylvia Rhodea

Republican

Parents. Parents know what is best to teach a child, as well as how to raise and care for their children, and are given "natural" rights to these responsibilities by God, protected by the 1st and 14th Amendments.  Public schools and government are not given a role above a child’s parents in making decisions for a child.

Michigan Revised School Code 380.10 affirms, “It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children. The public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil’s parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil’s intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive manner.”

4. Should biological boys be allowed in girls’ bathrooms?

Rebecca Patrick

Democrat

Please check out my public social media post on this subject. I’ve linked it below, for your convenience. Feel free to share and use that post as my response to your Candidate Questionnaire. Thank you! Facebook Post

Sylvia Rhodea

Republican

No. Biological boys and men should not be allowed in girls’ bathrooms or locker rooms. Bathrooms have historically been separated by biological gender in consideration of science, privacy, and the safety of girls and women. This is protective of not only girls, but also boys. Those struggling with gender dysphoria should be treated with compassion, but privacy and safety of others should not be compromised.

5. Which media organizations do you get your news from?

Rebecca Patrick

Democrat

Please check out my public social media post on this subject. I’ve linked it below, for your convenience. Feel free to share and use that post as my response to your Candidate Questionnaire. Thank you! Facebook Post

Sylvia Rhodea

Republican

I get my news from a variety of independent and original news sources, and form my own opinions. I watch X for real time information and independent reporting, and appreciate news and commentary from Tucker Carlson, The Epoch Times, and Simply American. To stay up to date on hit pieces against conservatives, I read fake news narratives from the Washington Post, the Holland Sentinel, and a few other local news media outlets.