‘We play to win.’ New Pierce GOP website criticizes Republican candidates in the 26th

Jim Henderson is a Republican.

He’s always been a Republican, he told The News Tribune recently.

As he’s running to represent the 26th Legislative District in the State House, he has some thoughts about why the Pierce County Republican Party is accusing him of being a Democrat.

He said the Pierce County GOP created a website, realjimhenderson.com , about two months ago to criticize him.

“They don’t believe that I’m a Republican,” Henderson told The News Tribune June 26. “Part of it is because I’m gay.”

Henderson said the website is a bid to try to get the other Republican in the race, Jesse Young , through the primary.

“It’s fake,” Henderson said about the website. “All of the positions that they state are fake.”

Henderson, Young and Democrat Adison Richards are vying to represent the 26th District in Olympia, in the position vacated by Rep. Spencer Hutchins (R-Gig Harbor).

Hutchins said in February that he would not run for reelection .

He was elected in 2022 when he ran to replace Young in the House. Young was running for state Senate at the time and lost that election to incumbent Sen. Emily Randall (D-Bremerton).

The district includes Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula, among other places in Pierce and Kitsap counties.

State Rep. Michelle Caldier (R-Gig Harbor), who is also criticized by the Pierce County GOP on realjimhenderson.com, said the House seat that Young, Henderson and Richards are vying for is crucial for control in Olympia. It’s one of the only swing districts left, she said.

“I think that he (Henderson) is a much better candidate than Jesse Young, and I think that he is the only Republican who can win in the general election,” Caldier told The News Tribune. “And with the Democrats only one vote away from having a supermajority, I think that Jim is the only one who has a chance of winning in the general election.”

The Olympian reported in May that 11 Republican House lawmakers had endorsed Henderson.

The Olympian also reported that the state GOP donated $20,000 to Young in April , which at that time was its largest donation to a candidate during the primary this year.

‘Paid for and authorized by the Pierce County Republican Party’

“This is pretty normal,” Caldier said about realjimhenderson.com. “Usually every year there is some website for at least one of the candidates in the 26th.”

It is “kind of interesting that the Pierce County Republican Party wants to get involved,” she said.

Usually “it comes out through an attack” political action committee, she told The News Tribune.

The bottom of the website says it is: “Paid for and authorized by the Pierce County Republican Party” and that it is “not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.”

Pierce County GOP Chairman Dave McMullan texted a News Tribune reporter June 25 in response to a request for an interview.

“I am on vacation and not in a good phone area,” his message said. “Jesse Young has been enthusiastically endorsed by the Pierce County Republican Party. He is popular among the members of our party and we fully support his candidacy for the 26th LD position 1. Jesse supports our conservative values and we look forward to him returning to Olympia.”

McMullan’s message went on to say: “Jim Henderson is not a Republican. He is recruited by Michelle Calider in support of her personal disdain for Jesse Young. The website speaks for itself. There is nothing not factual on it and we want the voters of the 26th to have the information they need to make an educated choice of who they will support. We play to win and Henderson is not a candidate we politically support. We only support Republicans. Michelle Caldier should not go against the will of the party members as it caused us to endorse her Republican primary opponent Rachel Harter for 26th LD position 2.”

McMullan did not respond to follow-up messages from a News Tribune reporter, requesting a phone interview at a later date.

Young emailed a News Tribune reporter June 28 in response to a request for an interview about the website.

“It is clear that Mr. Henderson and I have different priorities,” Young wrote. “I am running to protect our families, protect our futures, and protect our state. I’ll do that by standing up for parental rights, ending high taxes and inflation, penalizing crime, protecting our borders, and supporting our working-class over corporate interests.”

Young did not respond to follow-up messages from a News Tribune reporter, requesting a phone interview at a later date.

‘They don’t love me’

Asked about his relationship with the Pierce County Republican Party, Henderson said: “They don’t love me.”

Henderson said at a Pierce County Republican Party meeting in early April, shortly after he announced his campaign, someone stood up and asked how Henderson could expect someone to vote for a homosexual?

“With Jim being gay, there was no way that he was going to get their support,” Caldier said. “But I also think that the average person could care less if he is gay. ... The Republican Party doesn’t reflect the average Republican in our state.”

Caldier shared a link to the Pierce County Republican Party platform , which is posted on its website and was revised in 2021.

Part of the platform says: “We affirm that marriage between a man and a woman is the cornerstone of a functional, civil society and is the fundamental basis for the family structure.”

It goes on to say: “We believe the best environment for the adoption of a child is placement with a legally married man and woman,” and that: “We believe in the sanctity of life from the moment of conception to the moment of passing. We reject the use of tax dollars to end human life at any time.”

Caldier said she’s only been endorsed by the Pierce County Republican Party in two of her six elections.

“I have an IUD and they consider an IUD to be a form of abortion,” she said. “I’m just not as pure, I guess, as what the Republican Party would like me to be. Neither is Jim. We were never going to survive that litmus test. I really believe that the average Republican in our state doesn’t have those viewpoints.”

She went on to say: “There’s a huge issue within the Republican Party. It’s kind of like a race to be the most pure. I liken it to kicking all the sinners out of church. At some point, you’ll have no church.”

Who is the real Jim Henderson?

A photo at the top of realjimhenderson.com shows Henderson with Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, state Sen. T’wina Nobles, Pierce County Council Chair Ryan Mello and others at an event for the Rainbow Center , a Tacoma nonprofit that supports the LGBTQ2SA community.

“Democrat Jim Henderson isn’t who he says he is,” the website reads. “Jim Henderson, a Democrat lobbyist from Tacoma is running as a ‘Republican’ against our endorsed candidate, Representative Jesse Young.”

Henderson said his former husband was a Democrat.

“He gets to have his views and I get to have my views,” he said.

He said photos on the website show him with friends who are Democrats, who he met through his former husband.

“I can get along with people who have opposing views,” Henderson said.

That’s essential to get things done in OIympia, he said.

“The average voter isn’t polarized,” he said, and expects their elected officials to work across the aisle. “... We have to talk to the other side.”

Henderson said he’s lived in the district, in Gig Harbor, since March 8. He said he’s lived in Pierce County for 30 years.

The website alleges that Henderson was previously a member of the 27th Legislative District Democratic Party, and that he’s previously made donations to Democratic candidates.

Asked about the donations, Henderson told The News Tribune he registered as a lobbyist in 2018. He represented housing providers and housing associations.

“My clients were not willing to donate to Democrats,” Henderson said. “... I made those donations so that I could more effectively represent them.”

He said he has never been a member of the Democratic Party.

“If you want to represent your district well, you need relationships on both sides,” he said.

The website accuses him of stances on various issues that “starkly contrast with core Republican values,” such as when it comes to parental rights.

“I think that parents should not be shut out,” Henderson told The News Tribune. “Parents know their kids the best.”

He said fiscal responsibility is one of his priorities and that he is a fiscal conservative who values accountability. For example, he also wants to look at how efforts to address homelessness are funded.

“As we spend more, it seems that we have more people experiencing homelessness,” he said.

He wonders if shifting where that money is spent, possibly focusing on prevention, could change that.

Public safety is also an issue that’s important to him, he said.

Henderson said he was beaten and robbed by two intruders at his business in Olympia. The attack happened Feb. 8, and he referenced it in a news release announcing his campaign the next month.

“Having survived a life-threatening attack, I have witnessed firsthand the consequences of unbalanced political power and its impacts on public safety,” the release said. “We can no longer wait to prioritize the safety and security of people in our state.”

The News Tribune requested the police report about the attack from the Olympia Police Department on July 9. The agency declined to release it because the investigation is ongoing.

An Olympia police spokesperson said he couldn’t confirm the identity of the victim, due to the ongoing investigation. The spokesperson did confirm that an assault happened that day, and said that The Olympian reported about it .

‘Hard Republicans come out to vote in the primary.’

Most of realjimhenderson.com criticizes Henderson, but a section at the bottom criticizes Caldier.

“Michelle Caldier has betrayed the Republican Party,” it says in part.

“They’re publicly coming after her for supporting me,” Henderson said.

Caldier said it’s clear which audience the website is targeting.

“Jesse is a lot of things, but he’s not stupid,” Caldier said. “He knows that the hard Republicans come out to vote in the primary.”

Caldier said she met Henderson when she was the ranking member on the Housing Committee.

She said she “worked with him quite a bit over I think it was 2020, 2021 to put an end to the eviction moratorium,” and that she has “a great working relationship with him, which is one of the reasons I have endorsed him.”

The website didn’t surprise her, she said.

“Jesse Young, that’s the one area in the state that he’s actually influential in is with the Republican Party,” Caldier said. “It is what it is. It’s not surprising that I got looped in there too. This is pretty typical.”

She said he started running candidates against her in 2018.

“I think he will continue doing that,” she said. “... It’s par for the course. That’s what he spends his time on rather than on his own election.”

The website includes a photo Caldier took with Democratic Pierce County Council member Robyn Denson.

Caldier said she and Denson have different perspectives on many issues, and that they can put their differences aside to work together. That’s what the average voter wants, Caldier said.

“Jesse cannot win on his own merits, because it’s true, he doesn’t hang out with Democrats, because they won’t even pick up the phone for him,” Caldier said. “And he can brag about that to the Republicans, but quite honestly, when they’re (the Democrats are) one vote away from having a supermajority in both chambers, there’s no way you can get anything done as a Republican if you cannot work with the Democrats.”

She said Hutchins was a “staunch Republican,” who understood the lay of the land in Olympia.

“He knew you have to work with Democrats, and he did,” Caldier said. “There’s a way to work with Democrats and still be true to yourself and your values. Just because I disagree with somebody doesn’t mean I have to have an adversarial relationship with somebody every second of the day.”

She said the relationship between Young and the chair of the Pierce County GOP is “very important,” and that Young’s relationship with McMullan has always been strong.

“Jesse is going to do his own thing,” Caldier said. “The Pierce County Republican Party is going to do their own thing. I can’t control them, but what I can control is doing everything I can to reach out to the general population, because that’s where I shine, is with the general public.”

Caldier said that she has “weathered the storm” before and will do so again.

The primary election is Aug. 6. The top-two vote getters advance to the general election in November, regardless of party.

News Tribune archives contributed to this report.