Editor’s note: Inquiries with identical questionnaires and guidelines for their answers were sent to both candidates.

Kitsap County Commissioner Christine Rolfes appeared to have secured an unopposed run for her District 1 seat after election filing closed with no other takers back in May.

Yet as the primaries approached in August, a second candidate’s campaign began to take shape for a shot at the general election ballot Nov. 5. Scott Henden of Kingston, an independent, entered the primaries needing at least 1% of the vote countywide to qualify for the ballot. Henden finished with 4.58%, over 1,000 ballots cast with his name inscribed.

Now the former North Kitsap School District board director’s name will appear in print alongside Rolfes in what is now a contested race.

Rolfes, who began her elected political career on the Bainbridge Island City Council before serving as a state representative and then a state senator, was appointed to the seat in June of last year to replace the retiring Rob Gelder.

Now intent on staying put, she said: “I am committed to leading a county government that is inclusive, efficient, transparent, responsive and of the high quality that Kitsap residents deserve. I’m excited to be in office at a time when we are planning for the future of Kitsap County – protecting our beautiful natural environment while supporting a vibrant economy and safe neighborhoods where people want to live and can afford to do so.”

Henden said: “I am not a politician but a businessman with many years of experience. I believe I have the skills and determination to affect these challenges. I do not need the job or retirement, I simply want to serve the citizens of Kitsap County.”

Both candidates cite track records in their respective fields, Rolfes as a longtime politician and Henden through decades of business ownership. Rolfes in her short time as a commissioner said she has leveraged her experience to make life in Kitsap better by making “deep reforms” in the planning and building department, working to add hundreds of acres of former state forest to the local park system and increasing mental health and recovery services.

“We have almost eliminated homeless encampments on county lands, and improved salaries and technology to help retain and recruit law enforcement,” she added.

Henden questioned the legitimacy of a better life in Kitsap, calling Rolfes a “nice lady” but posing the question of whether things are better or worse with his opponent in office.

“Her lack of leadership in the COVID crisis with her silence and placing party politics before her district, allowing 945 days of Governor Emergency Powers,” he said. “10’s of millions of students falling behind, 10’s of thousands of family businesses shattered (or shut down) because of her silence and lack of leadership.”

As to their top three issues, Rolfes championed a prioritization to healthcare accessibility, transportation improvements and affordable housing that will help build “an economy that works for all” and increased programs and competitive law enforcement to boost public safety.

Henden listed public safety as a top priority, criticizing state laws that he says have led to the current crime and drug crisis. He also wants to make transportation improvements from roads to ferries less of a talking point and develop action plans, and he also wishes to advocate for businesses and potential homeowners that he says have been stepped on by inefficient permitting and delays.