JACKSONVILLE, Fla — It started as shocking news this morning.
Multiple national football writers reported that Tony Khan, son of Jaguars owner Shad Khan, filed paperwork to run for Congress.
Within hours of the reports Tony Khan tweeted that he never submitted the filing.
So did someone really use the Federal Election Commission to pull a prank on the son of the Jaguars owner?
As it turns out, filing an initial statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission is a relatively simple process.
With that said, NO, Tony Khan is not running for a Congressional seat.
YES, a Federal Election Commission form with his name was submitted claiming a statement of candidacy, but there are some red flags right from the start.
First, his address is listed as 1 TIAA Bank Field Drive, which is the address for the Jaguars stadium. Tony Khan doesn't live inside of TIAA Bank Field. Next, his campaign committee is listed as All Elite Wrestling. NO, his wrestling company is not backing his fake run for office.
While using the Federal Election Commission to prank the son of an NFL owner seems far fetched, it's not as strange as you may think.
"Celebrities and famous characters from tv shows and movies have appeared in the FEC database over the years," said UNF Political Science professor Mike Binder. Binder adds that today's initial reports can act as a good lesson.
"The trick is, and what I tell my students, think critically," said Binder, "look at what we're seeing and does this make sense? Do all these things add up? And the answer in this case is no."
How could this happen to you?
In fact, it's quite simple, filing a Statement of Candidacy form with the FEC is just step 1 in the process to becoming a candidate for office. With a couple of clicks of the mouse on the FEC website anyone can fill out the form with any name to request to become a candidate for office.
"For Florida politics this is nothing," said Binder, "what this says something about is the national media, particularly sports media, dipping their toe into things that they don't have a basis and knowledge about. They deal with football, they should stick to football and avoid the politics."