Tacoma Port Candidate Who Dropped Out Over 'Unkind' Tweets Could Win Race

GIG HARBOR, WA - Gig Harbor real estate broker Jim Jensen was running an enthusiastic and well-funded campaign for the Port of Tacoma Commission - up until a trove of his inflammatory tweets came to light this week. Jensen told the The News Tribune this week that he would drop out of the race because of the "completely insensitive" tweets, which included embarrassing remarks about women, blacks, and "greenies."

But, it's still possible Jensen could advance beyond the primary.

That's because the deadline to withdraw a name from the ballot has already passed. The top two vote-getters in the August primary will advance to the November general election. With three people in the race, it's very possible Jensen could still win. The Pierce County Auditor's office made note of the name-withdrawal deadline in a tweet on Thursday. The auditor said that Jensen could only be removed from the ballot by a court order.

Patch.com reached out to Jensen's family for comment about his campaign, but did not immediately hear back.

Jensen, 37, made a splash with his May 19 campaign announcement, drawing some 300 people, including officials like state Rep. Dick Muri, R-Steilacoom, Pierce County Republican Chair Marty McClendon, and former state auditor Brian Sonntag, according to his campaign.

Jensen also raised an eye-popping amount of cash for the race: about $147,000 in total, of which he has about $115,000 left. A large share of the money came from him and his family, but also business owners and politicians like state Rep. Jesse Young, R-Gig Harbor and state Sen. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard.

By comparison, the other two candidates still (officially) in the race, Eric Holdeman and Superior Court Judge John McCarthy, have raised about $47,000 between them (Holdeman has raised about $10,000).

Some of the tweets made from a Twitter account apparently run by Jensen (he went by the handle Jim The Man Jensen) include:

• "Fat, dumb, and stupid is now way to go through life Amy," which was tweeted at comedian Amy Schumer last June
• "I still have not seen a black person ever following commands. IF you don't listen to the police, they will shoot you. Pretty simple," which was tweeted at Black Lives Matter activist Deray McKesson in September
• "Screw the greenies!" which was tweeted at Donald Trump's personal account after the president signed an order earlier this year allowing the KeystoneXL pipeline to move forward

The @Jensejman account has since been deleted. Jensen, a father of two girls, sent a statement to the The News Tribune atoning for the tweets.

"Several tweets I wrote were completely insensitive, unacceptable and unkind. I wrote things on Twitter that I don't believe and certainly would never think were acceptable to say. They do not represent me as a person, husband or father."

Image via Jim Jensen