School board member, teacher take on Richards for 26th LD Rep.

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Current 26th Legislative District Representative for Position 2, Adison Richards, will be facing two challengers in the upcoming Aug. 4 primary election.

Richards (Democrat), who was first elected in 2024, will face David Olson (Republican) and Natalie Bornfleth (Democrat) in the primary. The position is a two-year term. The two candidates with the highest vote totals in the primary will face off in November’s general election.

Professional experience for Richards includes the Northwest Justice Project, serving domestic violence and human trafficking victims, and Kitsap Legal Services, where he served people in housing crises, per the voters pamphlet. He graduated from Peninsula High School before earning degrees at the University of Washington and Villanova.

Olson currently serves as a school board member for the Peninsula School District, a role he has held since 2013. He also previously ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2024. He is a retired United States Navy Officer and also worked as a public finance banker and defense contractor, the voters pamphlet says. Olson has a degree in Organizational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University and is the current board president for the Greater Gig Harbor Foundation.

Bornfleth is a teacher at Sidney Glen Elementary in Port Orchard, a former nuclear test pipefitter at Puget Sound Naval Shipyards and an Air Force veteran. She is an executive board member at large for the South Kitsap Education Association, per the voters pamphlet. Bornfleth has a Political Science degree from Washington State University, received a PSNS apprenticeship at Olympic College and a Master’s in Teaching from UW.

All candidates were asked two questions to respond to.

What would be your top priorities if elected?

Richards: We have to deliver on affordability, public safety, and expanding opportunity for all through education, job training, and managing the impacts of AI on the economy, energy, and water. That’s why in my first term, I voted against raising taxes on working families and seniors, including opposing the gas tax. I’ve supported Washington farmers in an effort to stabilize the cost of groceries, supported building more housing across the state, and voted to expand the senior property tax exemption. I’m also proud to have helped obtain the funds necessary to finish construction on a trade school in our district to expand career and technical education opportunities.

But there’s no doubt we have so much work to do. I’ll continue to insist on a common-sense approach to the budget; one that increases accountability in spending and also ensures that we’re delivering real tax relief to working families.

I’ve also voted to increase funding for more local police officers and am committed to supporting first responders and improving public safety.

Lastly, I support ensuring every child has access to preschool, while making sure our K-12 students are learning the basics: how to read, write, do math, and preparing them for a successful career. I voted to establish the pre-K Promise Accounts for 10,000 students and to update early childhood educator literacy training to help ensure that no kids fall behind in learning to read and write.

Olson: My top priority is restoring focus and accountability in Olympia.

Families in the 26th District are paying more for housing, groceries, gas, utilities, insurance, and taxes, while too many state programs are not producing the results people deserve. Before Olympia asks taxpayers for more, legislators should be asking a simple question: Is it working?

I would focus on affordability, responsible budgeting, public safety, housing, education, and workforce development. Washington needs more housing supply, faster and more predictable permitting, and less red tape so working families, seniors, veterans, and young people can afford to live in the communities they call home.

Education will also remain a major priority. As a 13-year Peninsula School Board member, I have focused on literacy, math, school safety, student mental health, responsible spending, and career, technical, and skilled-trades pathways. We should fully fund special education, strengthen core academics, expand CTE and apprenticeship pathways, and make sure students graduate prepared for college, the trades, the military, or the workforce.

Public safety is also a core responsibility of government. Law enforcement deserves support, communities deserve to feel safe, and state policy should combine compassion with accountability, treatment with consequences, and support for victims with a clear expectation that repeat offenders are held accountable.

Bornfleth: I’m running because working families in the 26th Legislative District deserve a representative who understands what it means to balance a household budget, raise a family here, and count on the public services that make a community work.

My top priority is affordability. People are working hard and still getting squeezed by housing costs, health care costs, childcare, property taxes, gas, tolls, and everyday expenses. I will fight for lower costs, more housing people can actually afford, real relief for working families and seniors, and a fairer tax system that asks the wealthiest and biggest corporations to pay their share so we are not balancing the state budget on families who are already stretched thin.

I will also prioritize fully funding our public schools. As a South Kitsap public school teacher and union member, I see every day what students, families, and educators are carrying. We need smaller class sizes, strong special education funding, mental health support, safe buildings, and a school funding system that does not pit communities against each other.

And I will fight for the infrastructure our district has been waiting on for too long, including safer roads, reliable bridges, ferry service people can count on, and transportation investments that make sense for Kitsap and Pierce County communities.

Why should voters choose you over your opponents?

Richards: Prior to being elected, I worked as an attorney serving victims of crimes like sexual assault and human trafficking, as well as helping families struggling to make ends meet to access safe housing, and I grew up in the district. I understand that issues like affordability and public safety are more than policies – they’re people’s lives.

As the child of a public-school teacher, a proud product of Peninsula School District, and a cross-country coach, I’m deeply committed to supporting our education system and preparing all students for success from pre-K to college to trade school.

As your State Representative, I’m working hard for you. That means listening to my constituents and standing up to politicians in Olympia and in D.C. to do what’s right for our district, while bringing back investments to our community. We need leaders who put people over politics and deliver common-sense solutions to our problems.

We need a representative who will protect reproductive rights, the right to vote, checks and balances, and our democracy against a federal government that is out of control. We also need a representative who believes increasing new taxes will not solve every state budgetary problem, and that we need to ensure existing tax dollars are delivering the outcomes we expect on our priorities. I’m the only candidate in the race who says those things and has the track record to back it up.

Olson: Voters should choose me because I bring a different background and a results-focused approach.

I served 28 years in the United States Navy, including technical hands-on work as an electrician, hardhat diver, and underwater welder, before later serving as a Navy officer. I understand discipline, leadership, accountability, and service.

After the Navy, I worked in public finance and banking, where I worked with public agencies, budgets, debt, cash flow, and long-term planning. That experience matters in Olympia. State government has repeatedly raised taxes while still returning with multibillion-dollar budget gaps. This year, lawmakers moved LEOFF 1 police and firefighter pension surplus funds to help cover broader budget problems, while also reducing support for public education programs, including Running Start and Transitional Kindergarten. That is poor fiscal leadership.

I will bring proven public finance experience, fiscal discipline, and accountability to Olympia. Taxpayers deserve leaders who understand that public dollars must be managed carefully, measured against results, and protected from short-term political budgeting.

I have also served on the Peninsula School Board since 2013, helping lead one of Washington’s top-performing districts. We delivered major school construction projects, strengthened academic and career pathways, and focused on practical results for students and families.

This race is not about party labels. It is about balance, accountability, and common sense. The 26th District includes shipyard workers, small-business owners, veterans, seniors, families, educators, trades workers, commuters, and retirees. They deserve a representative who will listen, work hard, ask tough questions, and put affordability, safety, schools, housing, and results ahead of politics.

Olympia has lost focus. I am running to help restore it.

Bornfleth: Voters should choose me because I have lived and led on the issues I am running on. I am a mom, veteran, public school teacher, union member, former shipyard worker, and first-generation college graduate. My life has been rooted in service, first in the Air Force, then at the shipyard, and now in the classroom.

I know what it means to work in public service. I know what it means when costs go up faster than paychecks. I know how important strong schools, good union jobs, affordable health care, and safe infrastructure are to families trying to build a future here.

I am not running to be another politician who says the right thing during campaign season and then forgets working people once they get to Olympia. I am running to be a reliable voice for the people who keep this district moving: educators, shipyard workers, nurses, caregivers, service workers, small business owners, veterans, seniors, and families trying to stay in the communities they love.

I will bring transparency, accountability, and working-class values to Olympia. Voters deserve someone who will listen, tell the truth, explain their votes, and fight for results people can actually see in their lives.