US Senate hopeful launches campaigns in two different states

It’s a tale of two campaigns for one U.S. Senate hopeful.

Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente filed paperwork to run in the Republican Senate primaries in California and Florida. And while the states are on the opposite sides of the country, De La Fuente doesn’t see much of a difference in his campaigns.

“It’s the same job, representing California or Florida or the whole United States,” he told Fox News.

He told The Associated Press it’s legal for him to run in two states as long as he’s living in the state he will represent before he’s sworn into office. The 63-year-old said he owns property in both California and Florida.

His filing paperwork in Florida lists an address in San Diego, California.

The California Senate primary is June 5; the Florida Senate primary is in August 28. Should De La Fuente beat out the nearly dozen other Republicans vying to take on incumbent California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, that doesn’t necessarily mean he will drop out of the Florida race.

“This is like a chess game, and you have to look at all the moving parts,” De La Fuente said, adding that he will wait to see which election gives him a better chance of making it to Washington, D.C. “There are two Democratic senator incumbents, and the objective is to have a Republican take over one of those.”

De La Fuente is running as a Republican in both races even though he launched a 2016 presidential campaign as a Democrat.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.