Republican changes name to Cesar Chavez, becomes Democrat, runs for Congress in Latino-heavy district
TeaPartyCheer.com
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And if you can't join 'em, change your name to that of a famous civil rights leader and keep on trying.
The latter is the plan congressional candidate Cesar Chavez (formerly Scott Fistler) has reportedly embarked upon, according to the Arizona Republic. Chavez, who unsuccessfully ran for office before as a Republican, is vying to fill retiring Rep. Ed Pastor's (D) seat this year. But this time, he's running as a Democrat, after a legal name change, under the moniker of the iconic Mexican-American labor leader.
Both changes make sense from a demographic point of view. Almost two-thirds of the district identifies as Latino, and voters there backed Obama by a 72 percent to 27 percent split in 2012.
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Chavez, née Fistler, has so far deflected questions about his identity, citing a flood of media requests: "There is just simply not enough Cesar Chavez to go around."
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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
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