This story on a planned oral history of the Ninth Circuit has an interesting tidbit about the nomination of Senior U.S. District Judge William Schwarzer during the Ford Administration:
Schwarzer, a Ford appointee, said he voted more for Democrats than Republicans. But when a friend in Mill Valley, Calif., ran for the county’s board of supervisors in the 1960s, Schwarzer and his wife registered Republican to give him two more votes in a contested primary.
They never changed their registration. So when political operatives did background checks on him, he came back a Republican, making it OK for Ford to appoint him.
Hat tip: Howard.