Cory Fong (born August 6, 1972,
Great Falls, Montana) is a
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
public servant. He is a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, and the former state
State Tax Commissioner.
Fong was appointed Tax Commissioner in 2005 by Governor
John Hoeven
John Henry Hoeven III ( ; born March 13, 1957) is an American banker and politician serving as the senior U.S. senator from North Dakota, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Hoeven served as the 31st governor of Nort ...
following the resignation of
Rick Clayburgh
Richard S. "Rick" Clayburgh (born April 8, 1960) is a North Dakota Republican politician and current director of the North Dakota Bankers Association. Clayburgh was elected as the state's Tax Commissioner in 1996, and re-elected in 2000 and 2004 ...
(who left the job to become executive director of the North Dakota Bankers Association). He was elected to the position in 2006, when he faced
Brent Edison, 53% to 47%, after a heated
campaign
Campaign or The Campaign may refer to:
Types of campaigns
* Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed
*Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme
* Bl ...
.
Biography
He was born in Great Falls to Donna Lee and Terry Fong and was raised in
Helena, Montana. He moved to
Bismarck, North Dakota in 1994 to fill the post of
Deputy Secretary of State
The deputy secretary of state of the United States is the principal deputy to the secretary of state. The current deputy secretary of state is Wendy Ruth Sherman, serving since April 2021 under secretary of state Antony Blinken. If the secretary ...
. He is a graduate of
Gonzaga University
Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the ...
in
Spokane
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...
.
Fong began his career in
public service
A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
at the
North Dakota Secretary of State
The North Dakota Secretary of State is an elected office in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The incumbent was Alvin A. Jaeger. Duties of the Secretary of State include being the custodian of the state's Great Seal and other official state docume ...
's office, first as a staffer, then as state elections director, and finally, Deputy Secretary of State. Fong's responsibilities included addressing the
Help America Vote Act
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (), or HAVA, is a United States federal law which passed in the House 357-48 and 92-2 in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush on October 29, 2002.United States Department of Justice Civil Rights ...
(HAVA). In 2004, Fong was a leader of the
John Hoeven
John Henry Hoeven III ( ; born March 13, 1957) is an American banker and politician serving as the senior U.S. senator from North Dakota, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Hoeven served as the 31st governor of Nort ...
re-election campaign. He is married to Cecily Fong, and has one stepson, Conrad Eggers.
He resigned as Tax Commissioner effective December 31, 2013, to join the public affairs division of Odney Advertising. On February 1, 2016, Fong became the communications director for MDU Resources Group Inc.
References
External links
Cory Fong's Official Election WebsiteOffice of State Tax Commissioner
1972 births
Gonzaga University alumni
Living people
North Dakota Tax Commissioners
Politicians from Great Falls, Montana
North Dakota Republicans
21st-century American politicians
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