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Former People's National Party (PNP) activist Gary Foster has found himself at the centre of a major political gaffe in the United States, through no fault of his own.

A case of mistaken identity by a US Republican congressional candidate has made the Jamaican a household name in a section of Illinois.

Randy Hultgren, a Republican running in Illinois' 14th Congressional district, released a scathing press release last week accusing his opponent, Democrat Bill Foster, of taking donations from fellow Democrat Maxine Waters.

Waters has been charged with abusing her position of influence to steer bailout funds to a bank with ties to her family.

In his release, Hultgren claimed: "Waters has given Foster at least US$1,000 ... . By holding on to these dirty campaign contributions, Bill Foster is sending a clear message that he has no issue with the culture of corruption in Washington."

This might have been damning if it was true.

Humorous release

However, the Foster who received at least US$1,000 from Waters was Gary Foster, the Jamaican who now lives and works in New York.

Bill Foster's campaign responded with a press release humorously titled, 'Hey, Mon! You Got the Wrong Guy'.

It includes a picture of the two Fosters, captioned, "Hultgren campaign apparently believes Jamaican man on left represents the 14th District of Illinois."

When asked about the gaffe, the Hultgren campaign blamed the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

According to a Hultgren spokesman, the FEC erroneously showed the donation going to Bill Foster, not Gary.

Yesterday, efforts to contact Gary Foster were unsuccessful.