(CNN) Likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s owned up to his “mistake” Monday of an unearthed 2009 voter registration form on which Bush listed his ethnicity as “Hispanic”
Despite his claim on the voter registration form, obtained and published by the New York Times, Bush is white. His wife Columba, who was born in Mexico, and children are Hispanic.
“My mistake! Don’t think I’ve fooled anyone!” Bush tweeted Monday morning.
He was responding to his son, Jeb Bush, Jr., who tweeted out a link to the New York Times post and said “LOL — come on dad, think you checked the wrong box #HonoraryLatino.”
Bush is certainly hoping many Hispanic voters consider him an honorary Latino as the 2016 campaign season gets underway. Hispanic Americans are the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. and will be the target of both Democratic and Republican efforts in the coming election cycle and beyond.
The former Florida governor is fluent in Spanish and has used his bilingualism to win over Hispanic voters throughout his political career.
Bush released two videos in January announcing the formation of his political action committee, one in English and the other in Spanish.
The likely presidential candidate’s ties to the Hispanic community aren’t just through his family: he also lived in Venezuela for two years in his 20s.
Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said it was “unclear where the paperwork error was made.”
“The Governor’s family certainly got a good laugh out of it. He is not Hispanic,” Campbell said.