CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids businessman and flood recovery leader Christian Fong joined the race for governor Tuesday as a candidate for the Republican nomination.

The son of a Chinese immigrant who fled Chinese communism and married a Midwest girl, Fong said he grew up living the American Dream, the Iowa Dream.

"I've been blessed to live the Iowa dream. Sadly today I see the dream being ripped away from future generations," the father of three said in explaining his decision to challenge first-term Democratic Gov. Chet Culver. "The dream has to be restored. That's why I'm running for governor."

"The choice to use generational debt to borrow and spend our way out of a crisis is the wrong approach," he said. "To deliberate and delay on flood recovery is the wrong approach. Playing political games with marriage, with reflecting Iowa values, is wrong approach.

"Bottom line Iowa families can't shoulder the burden Gov. Culver has placed on their shoulders," Fong said. "I'm a businessman and it's clear when a business is off track you need a new CEO."

Fong joins a crowded field of potential GOP candidates. Businessman Bob Vander Plaats and Rep. Christopher Rants, both of Sioux City, have formed exploratory committees and Rep. Rod Roberts of Carroll plans to join them in July. Several others, including U.S. Rep. Steve King, Iowa Sen. Jerry Behn of Boone, and businessman Mike Whalen also are mentioned as possible candidates.

Fong, 32, who grew up in southwestern Iowa and has lived in Cedar Rapids since 1997, has never held public office.

"I don't think identifying and solving problems has a minimum age requirement," he said. "Whether it's a budget deficit, an attempt to borrow our way out of a recession or keeping Iowa's youth right here at home and making this a place where we can retain our kids and grandkids, problems abound and I think I'm qualified to provide leadership to restore the Iowa dream."

He's ready to stack his 13 years of experience in the private sector, his service on the Generation Iowa Commission and work as CEO of Corridor Recovery and chairman of its small business task force up against the "experienced governmental officials who have given us $1 billion deficit, the experienced politicians trying to borrow their way out of a recession, the experienced politicians that denied Iowans the right to vote on marriage."