RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. The city of Boston held a local election Tuesday for City Council. One of the candidates wanted to have a little fun, maybe gin up some interest and support from voters. So he showed up at a polling station dressed as a clown - a rainbow wig, a red nose, makeup, the whole deal. His name is Pat Payaso, which actually means clown in Spanish. Harmless, right? Except instead of making people smile, his clown face totally creeped them out and they called the cops. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.