Mark Hodgson Announces Campaign for Washington State House, 24th Legislative District
Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 16, 2026
PORT ANGELES, WA — Mark Hodgson, a Port Angeles city council member, Navy veteran, and career law enforcement officer, announced on Monday his candidacy as a Democrat for Washington State House of Representatives, 24th Legislative District, Position 2. His campaign launches with endorsements from State Senator John Lovick, fmr. State Senator Kevin Van De Wege, and fmr. State Representative Mike Cooper, among dozens of other locally elected officials, veterans, and upstanding citizens spanning the district.
The seat is open following the retirement of Rep. Steve Tharinger, who has represented the district since 2011.
“I love our peninsula community and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else,” Hodgson said. “I’m running because the people of this district deserve a representative who is fully rooted here and committed to the work: making our communities safer, making housing accessible, and making sure the Olympic Peninsula’s rural communities have a real voice in Olympia.”
Hodgson’s roots on the Peninsula run deep. His family moved to Port Angeles from the Seattle area in the early 1990s, drawn by the natural beauty and small-town character of the Olympic Peninsula. He attended Roosevelt Middle School and Port Angeles High School before joining the Navy in 1998. He served aboard the USS Carl Vinson, home-ported in Bremerton, and after his first deployment in support of Operation Desert Fox, qualified as a Special Warfare Combat Crewman (SWCC) operator. His unit later deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and to the Horn of Africa as part of the Global War on Terrorism.
After his military service, Hodgson returned to the peninsula to raise his family and begin a career in law enforcement. For over 20 years, Hodgson has served as a corrections and law enforcement officer. His community service extends beyond his badge: he served on Clallam County’s Homelessness Task Force for two years, the Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center, the Port Angeles Parks and Recreation Commission for four years, and is currently serving as an advisory member for Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County. He was elected to the Clallam County Charter Review Commission in 2024 and to the Port Angeles City Council in 2025.
Hodgson said his legislative priorities will focus on common sense public safety, affordable housing across the spectrum, and strategic economic development for a region he says is too often overlooked in state budget conversations. Hodgson hopes to bring his experience as law enforcement officer to a legislative body that lacks frontline public safety experience. While campaigning for and serving as a city councilmember, it became clear to Hodgson that some of the challenges Washington city’s face can only be addressed at the state level.
His own family’s story frames the housing issue in personal terms: growing up in apartments, duplexes, and trailers before his parents qualified for a low-income first-time homebuyers’ program, he knows firsthand what stable housing means to a working family. His son recently returned to Port Angeles after serving seven years in the Air Force and faces the same lack of family wage job and housing opportunities confronting young families across the district.
The 24th District covers most of the Olympic Peninsula, including all of Clallam and Jefferson counties and most of Grays Harbor County. The primary election is August 4, 2026. The candidate filing deadline is May 8, 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026.
For more information or to get involved, visit markhodgson.org
