It appears that the star of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) ads, the character known as “Jim the Election Guy” who tells viewers that her Democratic opponent Tarryl Clark loves taxes, has now been identified. And the recent accusation in a Clark ad is correct: He doesn’t live in the district — and his name isn’t Jim.
MinnPost reports that “Jim” is in fact a commercial actor named Beau Peregino, who originally hails from Maryland and now lives in California. Peregino did not return their requests for comment, but a former theater professor of his confirmed his identity from the ads, and his publicity photo matches the appearance of “Jim the Election Guy.”
Clark responded to the ads with her own new spot, featuring Bachmann constituents who introduce themselves as actually being named Jim. “Not a fake Jim like this guy,” says one of the actual Jims, followed by another: “His name’s not even Jim!”
Here’s a “Jim the Election Guy” ad in which he plays up a local Minnesota event, the state fair:
And here’s Clark’s “Actual Jims” ad:
