Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young dies at age 88, Everything on his Wife and Family, Net worth

Donald Edwin Young (Don Young) was an American politician and educator who served as the U.S. representative for Alaska’s at-large congressional district from 1973 until his death.

Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young dies at age 88

Don Young, the Alaska congressman who secured pork-barrel billions for his state over nearly a half-century and became the longest-serving Republican in the House of Representatives and the oldest current member of both the House and Senate, died on Friday. He was 88.

Mr. Young died while traveling home to Alaska, his office said. His wife, Anne Young, was with him.

Early in his 24th term in 2019, he became the longest-serving Republican in House history, surpassing the tenure of the former speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois, who as a teenager had followed the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates and went on to serve 23 House terms in three discontinuous segments between 1873 and 1923. At his death, Mr. Young was in his 25th term and 49th year in Congress.

Don Young Age, Family, and Early Life

Donald Edwin Young was born on June 9, 1933 (age 88 Years), in Meridian, Sutter County, California, the youngest of three children born to James Young and his wife Nora (née Bucy). He holds the nationality of American with the ethnicity of White. His zodiac is Gemini.

don young family

He served in the Army from 1955 to 1957. Young moved to Alaska in 1959, not long after it became a state. He eventually settled in Fort Yukon, then a 700-person city on the Yukon River, seven miles above the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s central interior region. He made a living in construction, fishing, trapping, and gold mining.

Don Young’s Career, What was his profession?

Young’s political career began in 1964 when he was elected mayor of Fort Yukon, serving until 1968. He ran for the Alaska House of Representatives in 1964, but finished tenth, with the top seven candidates being elected for the multi-member district. He was elected to the State House in 1966 and reelected in 1968. Young served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971.

He said he “loved” the job before he “got ambitious” and ran for the Alaska Senate in 1970. He served in the Alaska Senate from 1971 to 1973. Don was elected to the two-member District I alongside long-serving Republican State Senator John Butrovich. He said he “hated” the state senate and, after encouragement from his first wife, ran for Congress in 1972.

1972–1974

Democratic State Senator Nick Begich was elected to the House of Representatives in 1970 to succeed Republican Howard Wallace Pollock, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for governor of Alaska. Young ran against Begich in 1972 and placed second in the August 22 open primary with 13,958 votes (25.60%) to Begich’s 37,873 (69.45%). Begich disappeared in a plane crash on October 16, 1972 (along with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs of Louisiana), 22 days before the general election. Begich won the general election with 53,651 votes (56.24%) to Young’s 41,750 (43.76%).

Young ran in the special election on March 6, 1973, and defeated Democrat Emil Notti, 35,044 votes (51.41%) to 33,123 (48.59%). He won a full term in 1974 with 51,641 votes (53.84%) to Democratic State Senator Willie Hensley’s 44,280 (46.16%).

1976–2006

In 1984 and 1986, Young defeated Nick Begich’s wife, Pegge Begich, 113,582 votes (55.02%) to 86,052 (41.68%), and 101,799 votes (56.47%) to 74,053 (41.08%), respectively. He defeated Peter Gruenstein with 62.5% of the vote in 1988 and then faced John Devens, the mayor of Valdez, in 1990 and 1992. Young defeated him by 99,003 votes (51.66%) to 91,677 (47.84%) in 1990.

Young defeated former Alaska Commissioner of Economic Development and 1992 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Tony Smith with 56.92% of the vote in 1994, State Senator and former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives Jim Duncan with 62.55% of the vote in 1998. In 2006, he defeated writer, dramatist, and video production consultant Diane E. Benson with 56.57% of the vote.

2010–2020

In 2010, Young ran for a 20th term. He was challenged in the Republican primary by John R. Cox and Sheldon Fisher, a former telecommunications executive, winning with 74,117 votes (70.36%). He defeated Democratic State Representative Harry Crawford in the general election.

In 2012, Young drew two challengers in the Republican party but defeated them with 58,789 votes (78.59%). In 2014, Young received 79,393 votes (74.29%) in the Republican primary against three challengers. On general election, he defeated Democrat Forrest Dunbar, 142,572 votes (50.97%) to 114,602 (40.97%).

Young received 38,998 votes (71.5%) in the Republican primary against three challengers. In the general election, he won with 50.32% of the vote against Democratic challenger Steve Lindbeck with 36.02% and Libertarian Jim McDermott with 10.31% in 2016.

In 2020, Young ran for a 25th term. He won the Republican primary with 77% of the vote in a three-way race.

2021–2022

On May 19, 2021, Young introduced H.R.3361, the United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs Act of 2021, which would create a presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs who would represent the U.S. in matters relating to the Arctic before international bodies of which the U.S. is a member, foreign nations, and multilateral negotiations. No votes have been held on the bill. On November 5, 2021, Young was among the 13 House Republicans to break with their party and vote with a majority of Democrats for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Trump castigated the 13 House Republicans who voted for the bill.

Which school and college did he go to?

He earned an associate’s degree in education from Yuba College in 1952 and a bachelor’s degree from Chico State College in 1958.

Don Young’s Net Worth, How much does he earn?

Furthermore, Don Young’s Net Worth is $57 Million US Dollars. Don Young earns an annual salary of $175,000.

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Don Young Wife, What about his relationship?

Don Young was married to his wife named Lula young who died on August 1, 2009, at age 67. After his wife’s died he married another woman named Anne Garland Walton in 2015.

He has two children but we do not have more info on them.

Is he available on any social media platforms?

He is available on Instagram as @repdonyoung with 3,187+ followers and is also on Facebook as @Congressman Don Young with 17K+ followers.

Physical Appearance of Don Young’s Height, Weight

HeightFeet: 5 Feet 8 Inch
Meter: 1.78 m 
Centimetre: 178 cm  
WeightKilogram: 94 kg
Pounds: 207 lbs
Hair ColourWhite
Eye ColourBrown
Body typeFat
Sexual OrientationStraight

Interesting facts about Don Young’s should be know 

NationalityAmerican
EthnicityWhite
Zodiac SignGemini
Net Worth$ 57 million
Single/ In a relationshipMarried
Current SpouseAnne Garland Walton
Children2

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