Jeb Bush declares himself Hispanic on voter registration paperwork: ' My mistake!' he tweets

(AP Photo/The Grand Rapids Press, Elaine Cromie )

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a likely Republican presidential candidate, can speak fluent Spanish with a slight Cuban-American accent. He has lived in Venezuela and Mexico, where he not only taught English as a second language but also met his wife, Columba.

Even though he is married to a Latina, has three Latino children and lives in Miami Dade County, where upwards of 60 percent of the area’s residents are Latinos, Bush himself, of course, is not Hispanic.

But his 2009 Miami-Dade voter registration application claims otherwise.

Initially obtained by the New York Times, and confirmed by Fox News Latino through Miami-Dade County Elections Department, the Caucasian Bush checked “Hispanic” on the form right before the “White non-Hispanic” box.

Bush's son then joked about the snafu.

“LOL – come on dad, think you checked the wrong box #HonoraryLatino,” Jeb Jr. tweeted.

“My mistake! Don’t think I’ve fooled anyone!” Bush replied on Twitter Monday morning about the error.

Despite not being Hispanic, Bush, like his brother, George W., made major inroads among Hispanic voters while in office. When Bush was first elected to the governorship of Florida in 1998, he defeated Democrat Buddy McKay 61 percent to 38 percent among Latino voters.

In Cuban-American political circles in Miami he was even dubbed an “honorary Hispanic,” and Spanish-language media like El País has this year referred to him as a “Hispanic candidate.”

But clearly, he is not actually Hispanic.

“It's unclear where the paperwork error was made.” Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said in an email. “The governor's family certainly got a good laugh out of it. He is not Hispanic.”

Fox News’ Kathleen Reuschle contributed to this report.