Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a likely Republican presidential candidate in 2016, self-identified as Hispanic in a 2009 voter-registration application, The New York Times reports, citing the application it obtained from the Miami-Dade County Elections Department.
A spokeswoman for Bush could not explain the characterization to the newspaper.
Bush, the brother of a former president and the son of another, hails from one of the country's most-prominent political and business families. Indeed, Burke's Peerage, a directory of royalty, lists the Bush family's connections to European royal families.
The Times notes, Bush "speaks fluent Spanish. His wife, Columba Bush, was born in Mexico. For two years in his 20s, he lived in Venezuela, immersing himself in the country's culture." Bush, a former Florida governor, has long advocated appealing to Spanish-speaking voters. Univision, the Spanish-language network, even labeled him a "Hispanic candidate."
It is possible that Bush's self-identification was in error, but, as The Times notes, heritage is serious business in politics. Democrat Elizabeth Warren's claims of Cherokee ancestry during her academic career sparked controversy when she was running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.
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