Christian Fong

Christian Fong is a leader in California and Iowa business, a former candidate for Governor of Iowa (2009-2010) and Iowa Flood of 2008 disaster recovery leader. A long-time resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he currently lives in Mill Valley, California with his wife Jenelle and three young children. He is a member of the Republican Party of Iowa and announced in June 2009, that he was seeking the Republican nomination for the 2010 Iowa Gubernatorial Election. In December 2009, Fong announced he was suspending his campaign due to difficulty raising campaign funds ^[1] after the entry of former Governor Terry E. Branstad to the race. At the age of 35, Fong was widely seen as a rising star within the Iowa Republican Party and was named as a possible Lieutenant Governorial candidate for former Governor Terry E. Branstad's 2010 gubernatorial bid.^[2] Visually, Fong has been compared to others.

Life and education

Fong is the son of a Chinese immigrant who fled Communist China as his family was persecuted and killed for their Christian faith.^[3] Fong was born in the state of Maine in the United States in 1977 and was brought up in humble circumstances. Christian graduated from Underwood (Iowa) High School at age 16 with valedictorian honors, received a B.S. in Statistics, Summa Cum Laude from Creighton University in 1996 and then studied at Dartmouth College, receiving his MBA in Statistics from the Tuck School of Business, with high distinction.^[4]

Political positions

Christian was known for pro-growth political policies. Christian was opposed to tax increases, stating that during a deep recession is "the worst possible time to raise taxes". He was a strong supporter of a balanced budget, fiscal responsibility and community driven business growth policies.

He is in favor of allowing the public to vote on policy concerning marriage statutes, rather than having political groups use it as an issue-driven political topic.^[5] Fong has stated "The Legislature says one thing and the Supreme Court says the opposite. The law is clear. There is one arbiter when you have a disagreement and it's not the governor, it's the people of Iowa".^[6] He is also pro-life and opposes government funding for elective abortions.

Career

Christian is the Chief Financial Officer of Renewable Energy Trust, a clean energy finance firm in San Francisco, CA. Formerly he was Managing Director of Capital Markets at AEGON USA Reality Advisors and served as President and CEO of Corridor Recovery, helping with flood recovery efforts in Eastern Iowa. Additionally, Christian chaired the Small Business Task Force of the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce. He was appointed by then Iowa Governor Chet Culver to the Generation Iowa Commission in 2007, and was elected by his peers as Chair where he traveled around the state meeting and advising local and state government entities, as well as business groups, on attracting and retaining next generation workforce.

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