Fritz Pettyjohn: The indestructible Don Young

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By FRITZ PETTYJOHN

Don Young has run for Congress 25 times, and lost once, in 1972, to incumbent Nick Begich, who was killed in a plane crash three weeks before the election. He beat Emil Notti in 1973, and then, successively, State Senators Willie Hensley, Eben Hopson and Pat Rodey. After defeating Pat Parnell and Dave Carlson, he faced Begich’s widow, Peggy, in 1984 and 1986. Then he crushed Peter Gruenstein in 1988, but had a serious challenge from Valdez Mayor John Devens in 1990 and 1992, winning with less than a majority the second time.

Young then breezed through reelection until 2008, when he faced Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell (son of 1980 opponent Pat Parnell) in the Republican primary, and won by only 304 votes. In the general election he defeated Ethan Berkowitz 50-45. He hasn’t been seriously challenged since.

Now he’s in Donald Trump’s crosshairs, and of all the targets of the former President he seems the least concerned. His sin is bucking Trump and voting for the infrastructure bill, giving President Biden a much needed win. But if given the opportunity, Young will always vote for any bill that brings federal money to Alaska. He’s the king of pork, and the proud sponsor of the infamous “bridge to nowhere”, which was so outrageous it helped bring an end to congressional earmarks. He’s never paid a political price for bringing the bacon home to Alaska, and he never will.

Working as a team with former Senator Ted Stevens, the Alaska Congressional delegation routinely brought home a billion dollars a year in federal largess, providing both needed projects and economic stimulus. As Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Stevens had a reliable partner in the House in Don Young, crediting him with never failing to secure House passage of projects that came over from the Senate.

Don is now 88, and unable to get around as he once did. Some speculate that he isn’t serious about running for his 25th term, and may pull out of the race at some point.

But now that he’s the target of Donald Trump’s ire, that is far less likely. Don relishes a good fight, and bowing out under pressure from the Trump brigade would be an ignominious end to a brilliant political career. I suspect the attacks from Trump will only energize him, and make him more determined than ever to go out a winner.

He sure didn’t seem concerned at the infrastructure signing ceremony outside the White House, joking around with President Biden, and complaining to him that his speech was too long, and Don was getting cold. Is Don Young afraid of Donald Trump? I don’t think so.

In fact, 2022 may spell the effective end of Trump’s influence in the Republican Party. He is so humiliated by his loss to Biden that he won’t let go of his claim that the election was stolen, even though no court in the land has given him any reason to think this can be proven. Every day of Biden’s miserable, disastrous Presidency is a rebuke to Trump, personally. He’s responsible for this. He lost to this guy?

A month before the 2016 election he was revealed as a sexist pig by the Access Hollywood tape, and he was written off. But then eleven days before the election James Comey of the FBI reopened the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails. As he subsequently admitted, this decision was influenced by Comey’s confidence in Trump’s defeat. Even though the probe was concluded before the election, the damage had been done. Trump the Improbable was elected President.

Trump beat, by a whisker, one of the most disliked and mistrusted presidential nominees in history (Clinton). Then in 2020 he lost to a man who clearly had no business running for president, as his brief tenure in the White House has amply demonstrated. 

Donald Trump is a lousy politician. He’s one of the most divisive men in American political history, roundly despised by half the country. He’s unelectable, and only manages to stay in the spotlight by encouraging speculation that he’ll run again.

You think Don Young is worried about Donald Trump? With ranked choice voting, he’s in a stronger position than ever. In addition to his longstanding ties with, and service to, the Alaska Native community, he’s always been a reliable vote for organized labor. Against a Republican backed by Trump, he’ll prevail in a runoff with virtually the entire Democrat vote.

So get ready for two more years of one of the last true characters in American politics — the Indestructible Don Young of Alaska. When he finally does exit the stage, we’ll all miss him.

Former Alaska state legislator Fritz Pettyjohn once briefly thought about running against Don Young himself. Very briefly. 

51 COMMENTS

  1. With all of the crap that he has done to stay in power including cutting our throats to give us 30 pieces of silver while cooperating with the crookedest, worst, and most embarrassing ‘president’ we’ve ever had?
    Nope. Won’t miss him a bit. Not. One. Whit.
    Let’s go Brandon.
    and
    Get lost Don.

    • Used to love don young but thanks to him we win they biggest loser in the senate prize more often than any other state! Thanks for lethal mooocowski don. Bye don and lethal

  2. It has become apparent that Don Young has been corrupt all along. Never voting for him again. If you didn’t notice, FRITZ, the election was stolen. For anyone with a brain or that is not corrupt. We are going for a time in history which the truth is slowly being revealed and you, Fritz, are on the wrong side.

  3. Pimpin’ hard for Don Young. Plus shots at Trump. Gonna vote for Walker?

    2 things left out in this propaganda piece.
    1-Young has never had the distrust of his base before the way he does now.
    2-Like him or not, Trump was very electable. He was POTUS and would probably win if a new election was held today.

    Shill as you wish. But own your shill.

    • My suspicion is that every Republican in Alaska will secretly vote for Walker. Giessel is just the top of the iceberg. We The People need to vote Kurka or Alaska is finished

      • I’m pretty much dead center between Republican and Libertarian so.maybe I don’t count, but there’s less than the proverbial snowball’s chance that Walker will ever get my vote.

        Or Young.

  4. Don Young needs to retire and so does Donald Trump. Purge the party of both of them. I say we need a Jamie Allard and Ron Desantis in their places.

  5. I’ve always voted for Don but not this year. He has lost a great deal of his influence and it’s time for him to retire.

  6. Well, I’m never going to vote for him…. Sell out professional politician. And Fritz, I might not have liked President Trump all the time, but his policies… LOVED THEM!! AMERICA FIRST ALL THE WAY. Don have is ancient and needs to go!

  7. “You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain”Don Young is going to be remembered as a compromised pork leaden communist sympathizer.

    • Only in your mind… He’s the Dean of the House because he knows how to make it work – both in the majority and in the minority. Communist is what most the Anchorage Assembly is, Don is certainly NOT.

  8. Hmmm….. He beat out over a dozen competitors in 2016, and he’s a bad politician? He withstood 4 years of overwhelming attacks and is still standing? I wouldn’t write Trump off just yet.

  9. The writer was moving along quite nicely and then his TDS started showing , some people will never fully recover .

  10. Don Young. Bill Walker. Interesting how the ghosts keep coming to their rescue. Lu Young. Byron Mallott. Bush votes.
    .
    I hope Trump examines those on and off ramps in Florida, where Don Young appropriated $billions of taxpayer’s money to shopping center moguls in exchange for kickbacks and campaign $$s. Trump needs to think about that the next time he goes outside of Mar-a-Lago on a shopping vacation. The only thing Young didn’t appropriate for was a helicopter pad. And that really pisses off the Donald.

  11. Fritz, you are funny. Michael Tavoliero thought about running against Don Young VERY briefly too. Do you guys talk?

  12. Out of the gate you lauded Young’s career moves then in a turn you attempted to gain a leading position with the assumption Trump lost fairly. Then finally coming into the last stretch you assumed the native Alaskans are still enamored by Young, and Murkowski by default. I’m betting this race will be one for the books!

    • We’re No Longer Sleeping, Lady!!: just to feed my TDS, I want to point out that Trump lost the election. There is zero evidence to the contrary so using the word “assumption” is not warranted. And BTW, what’s the meaning of your name?

      • No evidence whatsoever, just Democrat leaders taping pizza boxes over the windows where counting was taking place in Pennsylvania so the observers couldn’t, you know. *OBSERVE*; only Democrat poll officials kicking everyone out of a poing center in Georgia, calling the poll closed due to a “water leak,” then, after everyone else left, rolling out boxes of ballots that had been hidden; etc. No, there was “no evidence” for those who have already made up their mind, and for whom no amount of evidence could possibly change it.

        • Exactly.
          And the evidence of tamperable and tampered Dominion machines, impossible percentage overage matches, 3am impossible spikes in votes for only Brandon’s side, Trump numbers subtracting in the vote count on live TV, evidence and positive conclusions of tampering from the one state that decided to look into it, etc., etc.
          and Bumbling Brandon got the most votes ever?
          Puhleeeaasssee!!!

          • “There are none so blind as those that *REFUSE* to see.”

            We spent four years chasing the thoroughly debunked Russian Collusion hoax on less evidence than that. If video footage of election workers blatantly violating election protocols is “unconvincing,” then there is no point in further conversation. You aren’t interested in truth.

  13. Yeah, willing to put money on that bet, Fritz ol’ boy?
    .
    I wouldn’t be. In fact, I’m willing to bet you a good amount of money that Don has finally sunk his reelection chances, and his pathetic pork-filled career, with his shameless pandering to the nation-destroying Dems (and to their numerous RINO allies like himself).

  14. Rather than help establish self sufficiency for Alaska, Don cobbled Alaska by causing the state to be dependent upon the federal largess. Why doesn’t Don come out in support of Pebble, or Donlon, or a gas line? Sure, he was big in pushing for the opening of ANWR & the NPR, but probably because the petro lords wanted it, not out of a sense of duty. I will support Nick Begich. IMHO, he’s the future for Alaska. Don has lived out his usefulness, particularly in light of his support of Biden’s policies and programs. Don & Lisa need to retire.

  19. My money is on Don Young. Nick Begich is a good candidate, but he is not Don. I am appalled at the ignorance of civics displayed in the comments and much of the article – you don’t like our Representative representing a group you don’t like – get INVOLVED and help steer him in the direction you prefer. Don Young listens, but don’t piss him off. I wouldn’t write off Trump just yet either – and whether he runs or not, his policies will.

  22. Why don’t you report on the election fraud thats being revealed as we speak? This is what I hate about the media…even so called conservative media..our election was stolen..Don Young? Who cares the dinosaur is gone next election.

  23. Time for the Dean to go. The Trillion dollar boondoggle is NOT even paid for as the Princess said it was IT WS A LIE Good bye Don

  25. Mr. Pettyjohn, I have always voted for Don Young, but the state of our State, Country and World is no longer what it once was. And as Don is getting up there in years, I no longer trust his decision making. It truly is time for a change.

    I believe Nick Begich III can do the job and I will be voting for him. Let’s get Mr. Begich in there now before Don Young dies perhaps while in office. I mean, he supposedly did take the jab so his time may come sooner rather than later.

  27. I suspect Young will win. Galvin can’t get over the finish line and Young is neck deep in DC swamp life.

  28. While I might quibble a little with a couple of statement’s about Don Young, it is refreshing to see Captain Fritz’ accurate assessment of the immediate past President.

    • Not really.
      It is mostly just a regurgitation of the shallow caricature that the lying leftist media makes of Trump. It is neither ‘accurate’ nor ‘assessment’.

      • Suggesting that the author is just regurgitating talking points of the Left indicates that you have little, if any, knowledge of Senator Pettyjohn.

        • The article speaks for itself. Refer to a Pettyjohn’s history or character to claim he didn’t actually say what he just said is called “making excuses” at best and “gaslighting” at worst. I didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 (I voted for Gary Johnson), but IMHO, Pettyjohn let the TDS get to him in this opinion piece.

  29. Puff pieces like this is needed to see who is for Don Young and who is against Don Old. What will he do in office if re-elected? This article is from the past and not looking to the future of Alaska. I’m sure I am like a lot of other Alaskans in saying no more holding our nose and voting. We need someone strong to stand up against Pelosi and strong to stand up for Alaskans.

  30. Obviously Pettyjohn is a never Trumper, he made that blatantly obvious. But if Fritz had any credibility to his name, he would include why Young was soundly criticized by President Trump for the non-infrastructure bill. Admittedly, I’m not sure if what is below was passed in the final Senate version. That question should be directed at Dan Sullivan who obviously skirted around giving any other information on the bill when interviewed by Suzanne Downing. All he talked about was all the wonderful things it would do for Alaska. But I would ask Dan at what cost to our country?

    The radical provisions of the bill passed in the house are described below. Barf Alert!

    At more than 2,700 pages long, H.R. 3684 would spend $1.2 trillion. However, only nine percent of of that would actually go toward infrastructure, with the remainder going toward leftist programs and the pet projects of lawmakers. Specifically, H.R. 3684 includes the following radical provisions:

    unconstitutionally mandates that states create carbon reduction programs, with the federal government choosing which plans to accept or reject;

    creates a pilot program for a mileage tax, which tracks how many miles individuals drive, something that would infringe on Americans’ privacy, penalize drivers in low-density areas, and make driving too costly for some Americans;

    requires car companies to equip all vehicles with “advanced alcohol monitoring systems“;
    allows the federal government to bypass “Buy American” rules, promoting outsourcing to countries such as Communist China;

    enables mass migration by funding border crossings and migrant “welcome centers” while including $0 for border wall construction;

    defines “gender identity” as a protected class and uses the word “equity” 64 times;
    enacts racial quotas for broadband spending;

    rewards states that support and facilitate illegal migration to the United States, also for broadband spending;

    ends Amtrak’s policies/goals of creating a profit and seeking to minimize costs;
    includes multiple radical climate-change provisions, including over $50 billion to protect against “climate change” and $21 billion for “environmental remediation.” Additionally, H.R. 3684 will “modernize” the power grid to accommodate “green” energy; and
    among other provisions, H.R. 3684 includes $39 billion for public transportation, $15 billion altogether for electric transportation, $65 billion for broadband, a $30 billion cryptocurrency tax.

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