Republican congressional candidate Dean Scontras made a gaffe Friday on the Lou Dobbs radio show - and in the process insulted New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

Scontras appeared on the CNN anchor's radio show to talk about his opposition to driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

Toward the end of the interview, Dobbs asked Scontras for his reaction to a sound bite by Richardson, the former Democratic presidential candidate who last week endorsed Barack Obama. In the clip, Richardson referred to Obama's recent speech on race in America.

“As a Hispanic American, I was particularly touched by his words," Richardson said.

At this point, Dobbs complained about people like Richardson referring to ethnicity and and race in politics. “What happened to just being a plain old American?” Dobbs said.

Scontras responded by noting his own family history - he's the grandson of Greek immigrants. But then he switched gears - and put his foot in his mouth.

Scontras: “I mean, Bill Richardson of all people, I think, changed his last name. Right, I mean, how, how, how truly Mexican is he? I mean, he’s not too proud of that legacy.”

Dobbs: “Actually, I didn’t know that he’d done that. Is that true?”

Scontras: “I think he changed his name legally at one point or another.”

Dobbs: “Well, he, he picked a heck of a name… I don’t think he could have come up with this name. Are you ready? His name is William Blaine Richardson III.”

Scontras: “No, I don’t think so. That doesn’t sound quite right to me.”

Scontras was simply wrong, as his campaign acknowledged this morning.

You can listen to the audio of the interview here. The discussion about Richardson occurs about a quarter of the way into the file.

For the record, Bill Richardson is the son of an American father, William Blaine Richardson Jr., and a Mexican mother, Maria Luisa Lopez-Collada.

– Kevin Wack

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