Tag Archives: James Olsen

Bainbridge school levy measures passing; Rolfes and Inslee headed for re-election

The two Bainbridge school levy measures were passing by healthy margins on Tuesday night.

Early returns showed the technology levy passing with 54.65 percent of the vote, and the operations levy lid lift passing with 60.64 percent.

Bainbridge’s Jay Inslee appears headed for another term in Congress. He was besting his Republican challenger, James Watkins, with 56 percent of the vote.

Rep. Christine Rolfes was beating fellow islander James Olsen to retain her state House seat. She had 55 percent to Olsen’s 44.8 percent.

Longtime Bainbridge attorney was in a tight battle with Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders on Tuesday night. Wiggins had 49.15 percent, Sanders had 50.85 percent.

See more Kitsap Sun election coverage HERE.

Read my story about the school measures below.

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Inslee, Rolfes take early leads in primary election

Islanders Jay Inslee and Christine Rolfes took early leads as the first batch of primary election results were released last night.

Inslee, who is seeking his seventh term in Congress, had 56.8 percent of the vote, according to early returns. Of his three challengers, Republican James Watkins had the strongest support, with 26.1 percent.

Inslee’s support in Kitsap was actually slightly lower than in the rest of his district, which includes Redmond, Kirkland, Edmonds and Shoreline. The Kitsap portion of his district (Bainbridge, North Kitsap, Silverdale) gave Inslee 53.6 percent of the vote. Kitsapers also cast slightly more ballots in favor of Inslee challenger Matthew Burke than the rest of the district, and gave just a little less support to Watkins.

Rolfes, a former Bainbridge city councilwoman who now represents the 23rd Legislative District in the state House, drew 56.6 percent of the early return votes. Republican challenger and fellow islander James Olsen had 32.8 percent. A second Republican candidate, Aaron Winters, drew 10.3 percent.

For more coverage of the primary, head over to the Sun’s main page, HERE.

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Sun endorses Rep. Rolfes for re-election

The Kitsap Sun has endorsed Rep. Christine Rolfes, a Bainbridge Island resident, for re-election to the state House seat she’s held for almost four years.

Here’s what the Sun had to say about Rolfes and her Republican challengers, James Olsen of Bainbridge and Aaron Winters of Poulsbo:

“Rolfes clearly offers a more reasonable and thoughtful approach to the state’s problems than her challengers, and has been an advocate in maintaining a freeze on ferry fares during her term. Even one vote we take issue with — her endorsement in suspending I-960 last session — still remained in tune with the sentiment of her constituents, who overwhelmingly had opposed the initiative. Her challengers fall back on rhetoric too often, and neither demonstrate the ability to work in the collaborative way that the coming session will likely demand.”

To read more about the Sun’s endorsements for the state Legislature, and to see the Sun’s video interview with Rolfes, Olsen and Winters, head over HERE.

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VIDEO: Bainbridge candidates square off for state House

Rep. Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island) has a fellow islander challenging her for the state House seat she’s held for nearly four years.

Retired U.S. Coast Guard officer and local Republican activist James Olsen is running against Rolfes on a smaller-government, pro-business platform.

They are joined by Poulsbo Republican Aaron Winters, an unemployed construction foreman.

Watch the above video to see all three discuss the economy, state spending and other matters with Sun editor David Nelson. That’s Rolfes on the left side, Olsen’s in the middle and Winters is on the right.

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