A California Democrat hoping to unseat Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum Tuesday that party officials claimed that he was “too brown” to win the Democratic primary.
Attorney Omar Siddiqui said that even though Democratic delegates told him he was the most qualified to run, he was warned that he should “change [his] name” to give himself a better chance to finish in the top two and earn a spot in November’s general election.
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California’s primary system matches the top two vote-getters of either party in November’s election.
“The name Omar Siddiqui will not work in Orange County,” Siddiqui said he was told. “And you can imagine, that was unacceptable to me.” (RELATED: Dem Rep Slams Party Leadership — Or Lack Thereof)
Saying he’s running a campaign based on issues, Siddiqui believes voters should “judge [him] not on the color of my skin but on the content of my character.”
“I told [the Democratic officials] point blank – I’m not going to change my name. I’m not going to drop out of the race,” said the California congressional candidate. “The Democratic Party is supposed to be the party of the underrepresented and the marginalized.”