Daria Ilgen’s mother’s family fled Iran during the revolution and rebuilt their lives in America, and that story of starting over runs through everything he does. He spent nearly twenty years building global partnerships and helping large organizations solve complex problems, then made a different choice: when his wife launched a small business, he stepped back from his career to raise their two kids in Poulsbo as a full-time dad, tending the family’s small farm between school drop-offs and barn chores.

That’s the vantage point he brings to this race. Ilgen knows the squeeze on Kitsap families firsthand, from childcare and healthcare to ferries and housing, because he’s been living it. He serves on the board of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, holds elected leadership roles in the local and state Democratic Party, and was one of just ten members statewide chosen to help redraft the party’s 2026 platform.

Ilgen isn’t a career politician, and that’s the point. He’s practical, steady, and focused on making everyday life more livable for working families. He’s the right choice for Position 1 in the 23rd.

Endorsements include Washingtonians for a Brighter Future, Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs, former State Senator Phil Rockefeller, Poulsbo Mayor Ed Stern, Poulsbo City Councilmembers Doug Newell and Doug Taber, former Kitsap County Sheriff Gary Simpson, and Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney James Kennedy. 

Greg Nance grew up in Kitsap, the son of a social worker and a public defender, and worked as a landscaper, house painter, and firewood splitter to make ends meet. He earned scholarships to the University of Chicago and Cambridge, then spent fifteen years building nonprofits, including Moneythink, which President Obama recognized at the White House as a “Champion of Change.” Drawing on his own recovery from addiction, he founded the Run Far Foundation to help young people facing mental-health and substance-abuse struggles, once running 3,156 miles across the country to make the point.

In Olympia, Nance has made the ferries his signature fight. He helps lead the Maritime Caucus and helped secure $895 million this session for new vessels, better reliability, and a mariner workforce pipeline, a lifeline issue for a district that rides the boats to work. He’s also focused on youth mental health, more affordable childcare, and support for small businesses, and the Children’s Campaign Fund named him Freshman Legislator of the Year.

Nance shows up: for the district, for Kitsap kids, and for the unglamorous work of making the system function. He’s earned another term in the 23rd.

Endorsements include Governor Bob Ferguson, Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, Attorney General Nick Brown, Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove, State Senator Drew Hansen, Speaker Laurie Jinkins, and former opponent Dr. John Gibbons.