Throughout his nearly 50 years in Congress, Young has taken over $4.3 million from corporate PACs
The Big Money 20 campaign focuses on defeating incumbents who represent a rigged Washington establishment that puts corporate special interests ahead of voters’ needs
End Citizens United (ECU) today named Congressman Don Young (AK-AL) to the Big Money 20, the group’s top incumbents to defeat in 2020. ECU’s Big Money 20 campaign is focused on defeating incumbents who are rigging the system to benefit themselves, their donors, and the corrupt establishment. The group will show voters how members of Congress, like Don Young, benefit from the influence of Big Money.
“Don Young has been in Congress for nearly 50 years, and he has built an astonishingly corrupt record filled with scandals, investigations and big rewards for big donors, tarnishing his reputation as an effective leader as a result,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “He’s taken $4.3 million from corporate PACs and voted against guaranteeing access to quality healthcare and lowering the cost of prescription drugs for Alaskan families. His entitlement has led to him and his family using campaign dollars for personal use, like getting their laundry and dry cleaning done. This rampant corruption is in clear contrast to Alyse Galvin, who is rejecting corporate PAC money and has put forth a comprehensive reform agenda to take on the Washington corruption that Young embodies. We’ll fight to defeat Don Young and help Alyse Galvin win.”
End Citizens United aims to educate voters about the Big Money 20 and rally support for reforming the political system. The members of the Big Money 20 are incumbents who take money from corporate special interests, mega-donors, and industries like Big Pharma and Wall Street and then put those interests ahead of their constituents.
In his nearly 50 years in Congress, Don Young has become one of the body’s most corrupt members. His career has been riddled with embarrassing headlines, investigations, ethics problems, and favoring donors over Alaskans. This has led to Young being a less effective leader for the state and losing committee assignments. One of Young’s most famous exploits was the famed “Coconut Road” scandal, in which he was nearly indicted for shifting a $10 million earmark from a road widening project to a specific project that benefited a big campaign donor. The New York Times called this an “obvious” quid pro quo. Young is also famous for being criminally investigated for his part in the Bill Allen/Veco scandal, which is familiar to Alaskans as the scandal that also ensnared Senator Ted Stevens. Bill Allen, CEO of oil services companies Veco, pleaded guilty to bribing Alaska state lawmakers––and Young was one of his favorite candidates. Don Young and his family have used their campaign coffers as their own personal piggy-bank, using campaign money to pay for everything, including laundry and dry cleaning. He’s taken $4.3 million in corporate PAC money over the course of his career, and voted for the 2017 GOP tax bill, against the Affordable Care Act, voted to roll back Dodd-Frank, and voted against lowering the cost of prescription drugs. It’s time for Don Young to go.
In the 2018 cycle, End Citizens United helped defeat or retire 82% of the Big Money 20 targets. ECU will connect its more than 550,000 donors to endorsed candidates who are challenging Big Money 20 targets.
ECU has conducted extensive polling and research showing that voters across the political spectrum support getting Big Money out of politics. ECU is a traditional political action committee (PAC) with more than four million members, including 7,500 in Alaska. The reform group raised and spent $44 million last cycle, and is entirely grassroots-funded with an average donation of just $14. For a full list and additional background on the Big Money 20, click here.
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