An Arizona candidate for Congress decided that his given name, Scott Fistler, wasn’t interesting enough. So, he changed his legal name to Cesar Chavez, meaning that he shares the same name with the legendary labor leader, who died in 1993.
The story of Fistler - we mean Chavez - was not known until the Arizona Republic reported on his efforts to replace retiring Rep. Ed Pastor in Washington. Chavez has no money or endorsements, but is trying to get on the ballot. Some thought the Chavez running was a legislative aide of the same name, but he told the Republic that it was not him.
But the Republic finally found the Chavez who is running. He is a 34-year-old unemployed military veteran, has a chihuahua named King and lives in Phoenix. Chavez tried in the past to run for office under his given name, Fistler, but failed each time.
“I have experienced many hardships because of my name,” he wrote to a judge in November, when he filed a court petition to change his name. Later that month, the paperwork got the stamp of approval and Fistler became Cesar Chavez.
"I feel right in everything I do. I never broke the law,” Chavez told the Republic.
Chavez was originally a Republican, but switched to the Democratic Party on April 28, notes The Arizona Capitol Times. In February, he did put himself down as a Democrat in a Federal Election Committee filing, declaring his intentions to run for the 7th Congressional District of Arizona.
Chavez declined to identify himself as Hispanic when asked by the Republic. “I like to look at people as Americans and citizens of the world,” he told the paper.
Arizona Democratic Party chairman DJ Quinlan told the Capitol Times that he is not happy with what Chavez is trying to do. “He’s either trying to make a mockery of the system, or of Democrats, or of the Hispanic community,” Quinlan noted.