Our school board. Our fire district. Our county clerk. The offices that shape our daily lives - and the taxes you pay - running without opposition, year after year.
When an office goes unchallenged, there's no pressure to improve - no outside lens, no new ideas, no accountability to anyone but the people already inside the building. The gaps grow quietly, and our community absorbs the cost.
When no one runs against an incumbent, budgets go unscrutinized. Technology goes unadopted. Services quietly degrade. This is how the status quo becomes the most tenured idea in a bureaucracy. The elderly, students, and other vulnerable populations in our county count on local government to plan for their needs and provide for their future. Our county can't keep absorbing that inertia waiting for someone else to fix it.
This isn't about any one race. Our county is facing a $16.2 million projected budget shortfall by 2031. We are about to embark on a large capital campaign to modernize our courthouse. These offices will make decisions that affect all of us for decades to come. Our community deserves new ideas, fresh approaches, and leaders who are willing to ask the hard questions about how we make local government work for us again.
Unopposed races must stop.
This is the office I'm running for. Three contested races in 28 years. A skilled executive with fresh eyes can bring more to this role than tenure alone - and our county deserves the kind of innovative thinking that only comes from genuine competition.
Start here · Explore the full Kitsap picture below
Source: Kitsap County Auditor official election results · kitsap.gov/auditor · All data independently verified.
The Clerk's race is one data point. Across Kitsap County, school boards, fire districts, port commissions, water districts, and city councils all run without opposition - in the same election cycles, in the same communities, managing the same public money.
| Office | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|
| County Offices | ||
| County Clerk | 2022 | Contested 2026 |
| County Assessor | 2022, 2018 | Unopposed |
| County Treasurer | 2022, 2018 | Unopposed |
| County Commissioner - District 3 | 2018 | Unopposed |
| District Court Judge - Dept. 1 | 2022 | Unopposed |
| District Court Judge - Dept. 2 | 2022 | Unopposed |
| District Court Judge - Dept. 4 | 2022 | Unopposed |
| School Boards | ||
| Bremerton School District - Director | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Bremerton School District - Director | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Fire Districts | ||
| Central Kitsap Fire - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Central Kitsap Fire - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| North Kitsap Fire & Rescue - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| North Kitsap Fire & Rescue - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Poulsbo Fire - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Poulsbo Fire - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port Districts | ||
| Port of Indianola - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port of Eglon - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port of Kingston - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port of Poulsbo - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port of Bremerton - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port of Brownsville - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port of Illahee - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port of Tracyton - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Port of Waterman - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Water Districts | ||
| Silverdale Water District - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| North Perry Water District - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Manchester Water District - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| Sunnyslope Water District - Commissioner | 2023 | Unopposed |
| City Councils | ||
| Bremerton City Council - Position 1 | 2024 | Unopposed |
| Bremerton City Council - Position 5 | 2024 | Unopposed |
| Poulsbo City Council - Position | 2024 | Unopposed |
| Poulsbo City Council - Position | 2024 | Unopposed |
Sources: Kitsap Daily News general election reporting (2023, 2024) · Kitsap County Auditor official results · Washington Secretary of State. This table is not exhaustive - it represents verified, reported unopposed races across a single two-year cycle.
The problem doesn't stop at the county line. Washington State Supreme Court seats - the highest judicial offices in the state - routinely go uncontested. The people deciding the law of the land, running without opposition.
| Office | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WA Supreme Court - Justice Position #8 | 2024 | Unopposed |
| WA Supreme Court - Justice Position #9 | 2024 | Unopposed |
| WA Supreme Court - Justice Position #2 | 2022 | Unopposed |
| WA Supreme Court - Justice Position #4 | 2022 | Unopposed |
| WA Supreme Court - Justice Position #6 | 2022 | Unopposed |
| Court of Appeals Div. 2 - Judge Position #2 | 2022 | Unopposed |
Source: Washington Secretary of State official election results · 64.5% of all U.S. elections in 2024 went uncontested (Ballotpedia).
Fire districts set your emergency response funding. School boards approve our children's education budget. Port commissions manage public waterfront infrastructure. Water districts control what comes out of your tap. And none of them had to answer to a single voter to keep their seats.
The current Kitsap County Clerk was appointed in 2021, ran unopposed in 2022, and has never won a competitive countywide election.
August 4, 2026, that changes.