First-time candidate Nathanial Helligso enters Chelan County commissioner race

WENATCHEE — First-time candidate Nathanial Helligso is not running against a person so much as a pattern, framing his campaign less around politics and more around how Chelan County’s systems communicate, or fail to.

On a recent Monday afternoon at Pybus Public Market, that message came through in conversation as clearly as it does in his campaign.

The market was busy, its parking lot full and the central walkway crowded with visitors moving between vendors. Helligso sat with a cup of tea near the statue at the center of the building, while a few tables away, State Rep. Mike Steele spoke with a constituent.

In short, it was a snapshot of Chelan County.

Helligso, 34, is running as an Independent candidate in a bid to unseat incumbent Shon Smith on the Chelan County Board of Commissioners. In conversation, he shows little interest in drawing contrasts with Smith as an individual, instead returning again and again to the idea that most public problems are bigger than any one person.

“I’m not here to attack the individual,” Helligso said. “At the end of the day, he’s a dad. I’m a dad. We both go home to our families.”

At one point, the conversation paused as someone passing by recognized him.

Joara Minharo, a political science professor at Wenatchee Valley College, stopped to say hello, recalling Helligso as an engaged student who asked questions and was not afraid to make himself emotionally available in class.

Helligso laughed at the timing.

“I didn’t pay her to come here,” he said.

That mix of self-awareness and reflection carries into how he talks about government.

“When people talk about issues, they’re usually talking about symptoms,” he said. “I’m looking at the systems underneath.”

That perspective, he said, is shaped in part by lessons drawn from the Marine Corps planning process, which he has adapted into his own approach to project management.

“If your environment changes, your mission has to change,” he said.

Helligso said that mindset has carried through his work in operations and consulting, including his role with 501 Consultants and earlier experience in the film industry.

“There are smarter people than me on every issue,” he said. “My job is to create the structure where those people can actually solve the problem.”

For Helligso, one of the clearest examples of where that approach is needed is housing.

Like many in North Central Washington, he sees the shortage not only as a crisis for those struggling to find shelter, but as a broader challenge affecting working families and long-term stability. More than a policy question, he described housing as a form of basic infrastructure.

“We need to start looking at housing the same way we look at roads or water,” he said. “It’s foundational.”

At the same time, he said the issue reflects a larger disconnect. Cities, counties and regional organizations are often working toward similar goals, but not always in alignment.

“There are all these strategic plans happening at the same time,” he said. “But are they aligned? Are people actually talking to each other?”

Helligso believes the county is uniquely positioned to bring those efforts together, not by dictating outcomes, but by creating space for structured collaboration.

“I don’t control people,” he said. “I control the environment they work in — the systems, the processes, the communication.”

That approach also shapes how he views the current political climate. Rather than appealing to one side, he said he is focused on what he describes as the majority of residents who feel unrepresented by partisan messaging.

“It doesn’t feel like either side is speaking for the vast majority of us,” he said.

Instead, he returns to what he calls the basics: housing, stability and the day-to-day realities facing local families, regardless of political identity.

“That doesn’t matter which side you’re on,” he said. “You need food, water, shelter.”

Helligso acknowledged he is still early in the process of fully understanding the scope of county government and said he has been and will continue meeting with local leaders and attending public meetings to listen and learn, an approach he said is intentional rather than cautious.

“I want to know what the story is,” he said. “I don’t want to come in with preconceptions.”

His campaign message reflects that approach, emphasizing people over politics and community over power, while centering what he describes as a commitment to honesty in both tone and decision-making.

“I want to be the sort of politician and candidate that I want to see,” he said.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media