diff --git a/calaccess_processed/models/proxies/opencivicdata/people.py b/calaccess_processed/models/proxies/opencivicdata/people.py
index 26bd5b26..77903b79 100644
--- a/calaccess_processed/models/proxies/opencivicdata/people.py
+++ b/calaccess_processed/models/proxies/opencivicdata/people.py
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
     PersonIdentifier,
     PersonName,
 )
-from .base import OCDProxyModelMixin
 from postgres_copy import CopyQuerySet
+from .base import OCDProxyModelMixin
 
 
 class OCDPersonManager(models.Manager):
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ def merge(self, persons):
 
         Return the merged Person object.
         """
+        from calaccess_processed.models import OCDCandidacyProxy
         # each person will be merged into this one
         keep = persons.pop(0)
 
@@ -111,6 +112,8 @@ def merge(self, persons):
             else:
                 cand_to_keep = cands.latest('filed_date')
 
+            cand_to_keep.__class__ = OCDCandidacyProxy
+
             # loop over all the other candidacies in the group
             for cand_to_discard in cands.exclude(id=cand_to_keep.id).all():
                 # assuming there's nothing else to preserve in extras