Marcia Kelbon Announces Run for Washington State House in Legislative District 24

Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 16, 2026

“Olympic Peninsula Families Deserve Skilled Representation”

Quilcene resident and community leader Marcia Kelbon announced her candidacy for the Washington State House to represent Legislative District 24, Position 2 in this year’s election. Ms. Kelbon is a long-term resident of the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. She is an engineer, attorney, and experienced business executive, currently serves as an elected Quilcene Fire Commissioner, and until announcing her campaign was a regular columnist in a local newspaper. Marcia is running as an independent and has resigned from positions with any party. She believes people should be put before party and that the Olympic Peninsula is best served absent single-party extremes seen at the federal and state levels.

“Our wonderful Peninsula has tremendous resources and people, but there are serious challenges that make it difficult for families to build a rich and rewarding life,” said Marcia. “I want our children and grandchildren to continue to be able to thrive here. I have the business, legal, and life experience to work on addressing barriers to job creation and business growth, and to reasonably-priced housing. We need an approach other than continuing to escalate personal and business taxes while still failing to address core education, infrastructure, and public health needs.”

“Rising taxes hit retirees and working people particularly hard. Without significantly reducing those, the legislature has been piling on increased business and occupation taxes and new income taxes that are driving job creators and revenue out of the state. Unfunded mandates have been piled on our counties. Relief is needed, and we also must avoid the possibility of income taxes on medium-income earners.”

“Regulations and laws that protect our environment and climate are important. They must be balanced so that obstacles are not erected that have little positive effect yet increase the costs of living, strip jobs from the Peninsula, and make it costly to build. Instead, we should foster technology, innovation, and practices to meaningfully protect our environment and climate while enabling people to still build and earn a living.”

“As an experienced mediator, I will work to bridge between major parties to prioritize state spending on essential government functions in a way that is effective and accountable. Education is paramount, and the state funds many aspects of that well. But we need to better fund the replacement or retrofitting of aging facilities and special education services. In return, the state also needs to better ensure educational performance. Our state and local governments spend mightily on well-intentioned attempts to address problems of homelessness yet we see little progress. In part this is because we are insufficiently prioritizing treatment for substance abuse and mental health and law enforcement.”

Marcia holds Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in Chemical Engineering and a law degree from the University of Washington School of Law.

She formerly worked as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy.

Marcia handled child abuse and neglect cases for the Washington State Attorney General’s office while completing her law degree, then practiced as a Patent Attorney protecting the inventions of entrepreneurs. She then served as a senior executive and the General Counsel of a biopharmaceutical company. She guided the growth of that business from the start-up phase to being a publicly traded, revenue-generating company, creating approximately 250 jobs in the process.

Marcia has served as a Quilcene Fire Commissioner since 2022.

As part of Ms. Kelbon’s public service, she volunteers with the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group and Brinnon ShrimpFest, provides pro bono legal services to the North Hood Canal Chamber of Commerce, and fosters with a dog rescue organization. She has also been active in volunteering with East Jefferson Habitat for Humanity, highway clean-up organizations, the Girl Scouts, and North Kitsap Babe Ruth, provided pro bono legal services to Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, and as part of her work facilitated free pharmaceutical and investigational medicine supply for medical missions and compassionate use worldwide.

Marcia lives with her husband and a boxer dog on a tree farm in Quilcene. Two of Marcia’s three adult children live on the Olympic Peninsula, as does a beloved granddaughter.

For more information, call 360.774.0150 or e-mail electmarciakelbon@gmail.com.