/ ˈkɑːpɪtbægə(r); NAmE ˈkɑːrp-/ noun
1.
( disapproving ) a politician who tries to be elected in an area where he or she is not known and is therefore not welcome
2.
a person from the northern states of the US who went to the South after the Civil War in order to make money or get political power
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 19th cent.: originally applied to people from the northern states of the US who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from the Reconstruction.