When the final election ballots were counted, there was a big surprise in Kitsap County.

County Commissioner Christine Rolfes, a Democrat, was running unopposed as she was the only one who filed for the District 1 position. It looked like not only would should move on to the Nov. 5 general election, it also looked like she would be elected after being appointed to the position in June of 2023, later stepping down from her state Senate seat.

But Scott Henden of Kingston said not so fast. An Independent, he made a grassroots effort running as a write-in candidate. And he received enough votes, 1,174, or a little more than 4.5%, to qualify for the November ballot.

He has a lot of ground to make up, as Rolfes gathered 24,479 votes or almost 95.5%, but she won’t get an automatic win. To qualify, Henden had to get more than any other person who received write-in votes.

Henden ran for the same position as a Republican in 2020 and three times before that. He has been a business owner in Kitsap for four decades at Henden Electric. He’s been active as a volunteer with Little League, school wrestling, church youth group, and has been a school board member for the North Kitsap School District. He’s also been a board member of Habitat for Humanity and volunteered with the Coffee Oasis youth outreach.

He was also involved in catching former NKSD superintendent Laurynn Evans in the act of taking down campaign signs against the district bond measure last winter, which led to her resignation.

His Facebook site says he wants to change the way tax dollars are used. He stands for reasonable business, affordable housing, traffic solutions and income tax. For details go to electscotthenden.com.

Kitsap County courtesy graphic