BAINBRIDGE ISLAND – Bainbridge Island will be well-represented on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee, of course, lives on Bainbridge. He received 15,681 votes in Kitsap County and 387,743 statewide to top a field of 11 candidates and advance to the general election in his bid for reelection. He will be on the Nov. 8 ballot with Republican Bill Bryant, a Port of Seattle commissioner, who received 12,273 votes in Kitsap County and 304,459 votes statewide.
Democrat Hilary Franz, a former Bainbridge Island City Council member, was one of two top finishers in her bid to become state commissioner of Public Lands. She received 7,399 votes in Kitsap County and 156,112 statewide. She will be on the general election ballot with Republican Steve McLaughlin, who received 11,222 votes in Kitsap County and 293,190 votes statewide.
State Sen. Christine Rolfes and state Rep. Drew Hansen, both Democrats from Bainbridge, are unopposed in their bids for reelection from the 23rd District.
Former Bainbridge Island mayor Debra Lester was the top finisher in the primary election for Kitsap Public Utility District commissioner. She received 4,102 votes; she will be on the Nov. 8 ballot with incumbent John Armstrong, who received 2,883 votes.
The sixth time may be the charm for Chris Tibbs, a Bainbridge native now living in Port Orchard. A former chairman of the Kitsap County Republican Party, he topped a field of four candidates running for Kitsap County Board of County Commissioners, District 2. He received 4,206 votes; incumbent Charlotte Garrido, Democrat, received 3,669. Tibbs and Garrido advance to the general election.
It’s Tibbs’ sixth bid for public office. He applied for a vacancy on the Port Orchard City Council in January. He ran for County Commission, District 1, in 2012 and 2011; for Kitsap Public Utility District commissioner in 2006; and for North Kitsap School Board in 2001.
During his leadership of the Kitsap County Republicans, he set a moderate tone for the party and two Republicans were elected to key positions in the county: Tina Robinson, prosecuting attorney; and Ed Wolfe, District 3 county commissioner.
Online voter registration (MyVote.wa.gov) and address changes can be made until Oct. 10 for the November general election, according to the Kitsap County Auditor elections division.
New Washington voters registering in person in the elections office, 619 Division St., Port Orchard, have until Oct. 31 to be able to vote in the Nov. 8 general election. Members of the military who are new Washington voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 8 to register.
