Jeb Bush identified himself as 'Hispanic' in 2009 form

Jeb Bush identified himself as Hispanic on a 2009 voter registration form, according to a report by The New York Times on Monday.

According to the voter-registration application, Bush chose Hispanic in the “race/ethnicity” field.


A spokeswoman for the Republican presidential hopeful could not explain the characterization to the Times.

His wife, Columba Bush, was born in León, Mexico, and the former Florida governor speaks fluent Spanish. He also lived in Caracas, Venezuela, while working as a vice president for Texas Commerce Bank.

Bush’s youngest son, Jeb Jr., joked about the story on Twitter.

“LOL - come on dad, think you checked the wrong box #HonoraryLatino,” the 33-year-old Bush tweeted on Monday, with a link to the Times story. Jeb himself quickly retweeted his son’s tweet, adding, “My mistake! Don’t think I’ve fooled anyone!”

The Bush camp issued a more formal statement: “It’s unclear where the paperwork error was made,” spokeswoman Kristy Campbell emailed reporters. “The Governor’s family certainly got a good laugh out of it. He is not Hispanic.”

The Florida Democratic Party didn’t get a laugh out of the news, however:

Hey @JebBush, did you know it's a 3rd degree felony to submit false information on your voter registration form? pic.twitter.com/6xCafz1ydB — FL Democratic Party (@FlaDems) April 6, 2015

Marc Caputo contributed reporting.