Likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Monday that marking his race as Hispanic on his 2009 voter registration application was a simple mistake.
The former Florida governor’s wife, Columba, is from Mexico and he spent time working in Venezuela for the Texas Commerce Bank in his 20s. Bush speaks fluent Spanish and has worked hard to court Hispanic voters by supporting a pathway for undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status.
But the New York Time’s notes that Bush may have gotten “carried away” when he checked Hispanic in the “race/ethnicity” field on his 2009 voter-registration application to the Miami-Dade County Elections Department. The son of former President George H.W. Bush and brother to former President George W. Bush was born in Texas.
His son Jeb Bush Jr., who is half Hispanic, joked on Twitter that his father is an #HonoraryLatino.
IN-DEPTH
- Jeb or 'Heb'? Jeb Bush Marked 'Hispanic' On 2009 Voter Registration
- UT Award for George P. Bush Draws Criticism, Praise From Latinos
-- Andrew Rafferty