Mark Twain once said, "Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a congressman can."

Just ask John Hertzler, a Ulysses Town Board member, who says he will challenge Republican Rep. Tom Reed for New York’s 23rd Congressional District seat — and do so while adopting the persona of Twain himself.

Hertzler announced he was running for the Congressional seat Thursday night at the Statler Hotel at Cornell University.

"I disagree with everything Reed supports, including his unrelenting support of the Trumpster," Hertzler said in a Facebook post. "I will be making appearances throughout the district of 11 counties, sometimes in my birth persona as J.G. Hertzler, and at other times I will endeavor to present my ideas and polices through the brilliant humorist for all ages, Citizen Twain. ...

"So, if you are in the 23rd District from Lake Erie to Lake Cayuga, keep an eye out for "Mark Twain: Running for Congress." I promise I will be visiting when you least expect it."

Hertzler, a Democrat, was first elected to the Ulysses Town Board in November 2013. His current term expires in 2020.

Several years before his first election, Hertzler moved from Southern California to the Finger Lakes area, where he performed at the Geva Theatre in Rochester. Afterward, he became a visiting professor in acting at Cornell University and has appeared in local plays.

Hertzler's biggest claim to fame is having played Star Trek character Martok, a Klingon alien in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" — that is, unless he wins the congressional election.

Then he'll be known as the Klingon who personified Mark Twain and became a congressman.

Follow @MSteecker on Twitter.