Did Fong Really File Papers for Governor?

We called it a "Republican Roundup" on my Internet radio show "Purple Matters" (that's a lot of "quotation marks" in one sentence, huh?) We had six possible candidates for the Republican nomination for governor next year in Iowa. Sioux City Rep. Chris Rants, Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats, Carroll Rep. Rod Roberts, Cedar Rapids economist Christian Fong, Boone Senator Jerry Behn and Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey all joined us. Chariton Senator Paul McKinley, Ankeny businessman Jeff Lamberti and Western Iowa Congress Steve King all cited scheduling conflicts, so they couldn't take part.

What did we find out?

Christian Fong--ALL IN. He questioned other candidates who haven't said right away that they are running for governor. He wondered whether others are "still wondering" or "still curious" about how they would solve the state's problems. He is not, he says. Fong said he has already filed to run for governor. He said he mailed the forms. I'm a little confused by this. I checked with the Iowa Secretary of State's office. Communications Director Jarrett Schneider said a person can't file for governor this early. The person has to wait until next March when the filing begins, Schneider said. So he said even though a person could mail the forms, the office will not accept them this early before the deadline and will likely mail them back to Fong. Fong would then likely have to re-send them later.

Fong pointed out he is not "too young" to run at age 32. He said he graduated from high school at 16 and from college at 19. He added he has been married for more than a decade.

Fong talked to us from Cedar Rapids. Here is his full interview from "Purple Matters" on http://www.macsworldlive.com/