Community Government

26th District Position 1: Freshman Democrat faces challenge from PSD board member

Rep. Adison Richards and David Olson are running for the Position 1 seat in Washington’s 26th Legislative District. Richards, a freshman Democrat, is the incumbent. In addition to the short interviews below, Gig Harbor Now did a Q&A with the two candidates about major issues. Find the Q&A here.

Midterm election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters may drop their ballots in ballot boxes by the end of the day on Nov. 3, or send them through the mail, as long as it is postmarked by Nov. 3. Voters can find a map of all 57 Pierce County ballot boxes here.

David Olson

Olson, a Peninsula School Board member and retired Navy officer, also served on the county’s Charter Review Commission in 2016. In 2024, he won 47% of the vote while seeking to replace Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal.

Olson, running as a Republican, said he doesn’t see this run for office as a career shift so much as a continuation of public service. In his 13 years on the school board, he said the biggest lesson he learned is that “effective leadership requires balancing fiscal responsibility with measurable results for the  people you serve.” He emphasized that he has focused on maintaining a fiscally responsible school district and that he understands first-hand how unfunded mandates affect schools.

David Olson

He also highlighted that the Peninsula School District won the 2026 State Superintendent’s Award for Educational Excellence in Academic Achievement. This serves as a recognition not only that the district is one of the top 25 in the state, but also “reflects the  dedication of our educators, staff, students, families, and district leadership, supported by the board’s commitment to academic excellence.” 

Some have linked Olson with Moms For Liberty. Olson clarified that he is not affiliated with Moms For Liberty, and has neither received nor sought their endorsement or financial support. 

Moms For Liberty, a conservative parental rights organization, previously supported Olson. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the group engages in anti-inclusion activities, including anti-LGBTQ activities.

“An individual’s or organization’s agreement with some of my positions should not be confused with an organizational affiliation,” Olson said.

The Peninsula School District has long been plagued by reports of racist and anti-LGBTQ bullying and harassment. These reports spurred an analysis that confirmed that targeted bullying and harassment were on the rise. In an April 2024 board meeting, Olson questioned how seriously students took the survey: “You had to take that survey, right? Did you answer it 100% truthful? … I take back that question. What I’m saying is that how much value do you put into that? Is it based on — were you in a bad mood?”

When asked about the survey and his public denial of it, Olson said that he was among those board members who advocated for a comprehensive overhaul of the district’s Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying policies.

He said that the review “identified several shortcomings that needed to be addressed,” and that “the district undertook meaningful improvements to its HIB policies and procedures, strengthened reporting and documentation requirements, clarified staff responsibilities and  investigative processes, and improved communication and accountability measures.” He said he was “particularly proud” of the work that went into the review.

He also noted that he was a proponent of banning mobile phones and social media use in schools to “address concerns about the impact of social media on student mental health and create a healthier learning environment.”

He views the two overhauls as significant achievements, and recognized that it took cooperation to get there.

“None of these accomplishments happened because of one individual,” he said. “They required thoughtful  governance, fiscal oversight, collaboration, and a willingness to address difficult issues.”

Adison Richards

Richards is wrapping up his freshman term. He is a lifelong peninsula resident who has lived, as his campaign site says, “in every part of the district from Fox Island to Bremerton, Gig Harbor to the Key Peninsula, and now in South Kitsap.” He graduated from Peninsula High School, where his mother teaches.

During his first term, the biggest thing Richards learned was the importance of sticking to his word.

“There were many times where the pressure was on to change my position in a bill, often not for policy reasons, but I held to my word when the policy was not shifting in the ways that I felt would be best for my constituents,” he said. “This was frustrating for some and gratifying for others.”

Adison Richards

Richards was one of the few Democrats who voted against the Millionaires Tax. He said that he felt the tax did not provide enough relief to working families and small businesses, and that raising taxes alone won’t solve the state’s regressive tax system.

He voted for amendments that would have both reduced the state sales tax and put Millionaires Tax revenue toward specific priorities. The Legislature rejected both amendments. The Millionaires Tax already faces a legal challenge and voters may repeal it this fall.

Richards said that he has found it difficult to vote for measures that dial back programs expanded over the last few years. He said he is “very frustrated by what I see as an unsustainable set of programmatic growth decisions over the past few years largely using one time funds that has made our budget difficult to balance.”

“My approach has been to help stabilize the core integrity of programs, like early learning, while coming up with solutions to reform and restructure programs to be as efficient as possible, while ensuring any revenue is directed at core priorities,” he said. “In doing so, we can make good on the promises of what those programs deliver and move toward goals like universal pre-K, which I support.”

Richards has worked as a lawyer for Northwest Justice Project, where he served trafficking survivors, and as a housing lawyer for Kitsap Legal Services. In the latter role, he said he got an inside view of the need for more housing options.

Richards views policy as a legislator through the lens of the most practical means of delivering private and public housing support. Still, he said, “we should be very strategic about where we grow here and protect our rural communities, our family farms, and tree canopy from extensive sprawl because there is so much capacity to build up in King County and the I-5 corridor first. There are at least five bills we passed over the past two years from housing in commercial zones, to ADU expansion, to transit-oriented development in cities above 30,000 people to deliver on that.”

Richards said helping to secure funding to complete renovations for the West Sound Technical Skills Center in Bremerton is the achievement of which he is proudest in his first term. “The school will nearly double its capacity to serve students receiving career tech education, and I ran on expanding those options for students to create opportunity for all.”