The North Dakota Democratic-NPL had a strong recruitment season for legislative candidates. Among them is Dr. Chris Tiongson, a pediatrician seeking a seat in the state House of Representatives in Fargo-area District 41.

Running for elected office is a daunting task. It's a lot of work and it comes with a public spotlight, and the public can be cruel, so why did Tiongson decide to take time away from his medical practice to run?

"As I've seen over the years, almost 30 years in pediatrics now, there are so many things that are happening outside the exam room that parents and families really don't have control over that affect their health," he told us on this episode of Plain Talk. "Like pollution, poverty, housing insecurity, food insecurity, racism, bullying, all that kind of stuff. And I felt like I can have a greater impact helping the health of our community working on public policy as opposed to just one patient at a time in the exam room or one patient at a time in a in a hospital bed."

But Tiongson says he understand the push and pull of governance, and that there "are costs to every sort of decision that you make."

"What makes difficult decisions is when there are competing virtues that are both good, like being fiscally responsible as a government and providing for basic needs for people who need them," he told us.

Also on this episode, guest co-host Rep. Zac Ista and I discuss the "brutal gauntlet" first-time candidates face as they enter the political arena and how many more of them will need to brave it as term limits for state lawmakers kick in. We also discuss Gov. Kelly Armstrong's decision to vote against the school meals constitutional amendment that will appear on the November ballot, despite backing similar statutory language during a special legislative session earlier this year, as well as the upcoming TedX event in Fargo next week.

Plain Talk's schedule will be distrupted a bit next week. I'm speaking at the TedX event, but we'll also be recording an episode of the show from the venue in Fargo.

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