4 want to be state rep. position 2

Editor’s note: Candidates for the state’s 23rd Legislative District, Position 2 were given 250 words to explain to voters why they should vote for them in the Aug. 6 primary election. Following are their submissions.

Brynn Felix

With over a decade of advocacy experience, Brynn is the most qualified candidate running for Position 2. She serves as general counsel to Peninsula Community Health Services, worked as a civil rights organizer with the ACLU-WA on marriage equality and voting rights, clerked for Justice Mary Yu at the Washington Supreme Court, and served as a law clerk for Sen. Patty Murray in Washington D.C. She began her legal career as a litigator in Lane Powell’s Transportation Law Group and practiced maritime law.

Prior to her advocacy work, Brynn taught pre-K and kindergarten, junior high English, and high school marching band. She will work tirelessly to fully fund public education, expand healthcare insurance coverage and services, invest in climate-friendly transportation and champion environmental justice.

She is the only Democrat endorsed by Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, American Federation of Teachers, Retired Public Employees Council, Rep. Tarra Simmons, former Kitsap County Commissioner Rob Gelder, Bainbridge Island City Councilmember Brenda Fantroy-Johnson, and community members Karen Vargas, Ann Lovejoy, Chastity Malatesta, Kelly Cancialosi, Kimi Kinoshita, Tom Kilbane, and more. She is also endorsed by Washington Conservation Action, Attorney General candidate Nick Brown, Housing Alliance Action Fund, Women of Color in Politics, and UFCW 3000, among others. She is approved by Bainbridge Mayor Joe Deetz, the 23rd Legislative District, Kitsap County Democrats, and Kitsap County Democratic Women.

Brynn lives in Suquamish. Her two children attend school on the island. She has a master’s degree in Human Rights from Central European University and a doctorate from Boston University School of Law.

John Gibbons

We live in the richest nation in the world, and yet our healthcare outcomes are some of the lowest among developed countries. This needs to be fixed. I have been an advocate for healthcare reform for over 35 years, addressing access to equitable, quality and affordable healthcare for patients. I worked with then-Sen. Rolfes to create a bill that increased access to healthcare for children with disabilities, benefiting thousands of children annually. We also need to address the severe workforce shortages affecting our access to care. I am working with leaders from Olympic College and the Suquamish Tribe to address workforce shortages that are impacting our economic and healthcare systems.

Like healthcare, many other industries are facing crisis-level employee shortages including maritime, shipping, construction and green energy sectors. We can address this by creating more opportunities for skills development, apprenticeships and job placement. We have a crisis in housing affordability with too many unsheltered folks. We must expand our housing options and encourage more housing development. As our community grows, we must ensure that it does not come at the expense of our natural environment.

Greg Nance

Rep. Greg Nance proudly represents Kitsap as state representative, and he’s delivering for us.

During his first session in Olympia, Greg built a bipartisan coalition that delivered $80 million in new funding to Fix our Ferries. These investments to bolster staffing and vessel maintenance have already cut cancellations by half. Greg was elected vice chair of the Legislature’s Maritime Caucus by his colleagues and is working to Protect Puget Sound and Fix our Ferries.

Greg sponsored and unanimously passed legislation to expand affordable childcare and build Kitsap’s healthcare workforce. Greg was recognized as “Freshman Legislator of the Year” by the Children’s Campaign Fund. He is 100% Pro-Choice.

Growing up on Bainbridge, he was a BHS multi-sport athlete and 2007 state debate champion. He founded a national nonprofit recognized by President Obama and earned scholarships to University of Chicago and Cambridge University. He is now a frequent guest speaker at Sakai, Woodward, and BHS where he shares the story of his 3,156-mile Run Across America. Greg is honored to serve on the House Education Committee where he fights to fully fund our public schools and support youth mental health.

Nance is proudly endorsed by Suquamish Tribe, Port Gamble S’Klallam and Tulalip tribes, Attorney Gen. Bob Ferguson, Sen. Drew Hansen, former Sen. Phil Rockefeller, Kitsap PUD Commissioner Debra Lester, all four Kitsap firefighter unions, six Bainbridge City councilmembers — Joe Deets, Ashley Mathews, Leslie Schneider, Kirsten Hytopoulos, Jon Quitslund and Clarence Moriwaki — and 46 Democratic state representatives.

Jamie Miles

Gas

Food

Security

It doesn’t matter how many papers or patents I’ve written, or patients I’ve treated, if you can’t afford to fill your tank, feed your family or be safe in your home. It’s being able to raise children on a single income, with bright futures in Kitsap County. It means a hard look at what hasn’t worked, and the will to change. When elected, I promise, my salary will go toward establishing scholarships for qualifying legal U.S. citizens in my district to attend trade schools, because the world needs people who fix things, more than they need politicians.