Don Young
Donald Edwin "Don" Young (born June 9, 1933) is an American politician and member of the the Republican Party who has served as the U.S. Representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district since March 1973.
Born in California, Young moved to Alaska in 1959. His political career began in 1964, when he was elected Mayor of Fort Yukon. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971 and then in the Alaska Senate from 1971 to 1973. He first ran for Congress in 1972, but lost to incumbent Democrat Nick Begich, who disappeared in a plane crash days before the election. Begich was declared legally dead in December 1972 and Young won the resultant special election in March 1973. Young has been re-elected twenty-one times, usually without significant opposition, although he did face strong challenges in the 1974, 1990, 1992 and 2008 general elections and in the 2008 primary election.
Young is the Dean of the Alaskan congressional delegation, the third most-senior U.S. Representative and the most-senior Republican Representative. He serves on and is the second-highest ranking Republican on the Natural Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. He chaired the former committee from 1995 to 2001 and the latter committee from 2001 to 2007. During his long career, Young has been involved in several controversies and has made numerous controversial comments. He has twice faced federal investigation but has never been charged with wrongdoing.
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