What do you think about politicians changing parties to run?

Recently, friends of mine remembered they needed to change their party affiliation for the primaries. They had switched to Republican a couple of years ago to vote for a local politician. When I heard that I was shocked to find out that politician is a Republican. He is in a neighboring county, so I know him, he lives where I live, but I can’t vote for him. Turns out he’s usually a Democrat too, but the Republican ticket was open or something like that. Similar to when Bloomberg in NYC ran as a Republican.

I figure some voters don’t know the back stories and vote for a candidate according to the D or R, and might not realize that person is really closer aligned with the other party.

Are you ok with it? Do you feel it’s dishonest or deceptive? Or, is it fair game play, and just working within the system. If they don’t lie about their positions on issues does it matter which party they identify with?

If you are outside of the US please substitute the party names in your country or feel free to comment on the US system.