After Lt. Governor Sean Parnell announced last week that he plans to run against Don Young for U.S Congress, the next obvious question is: can Don Young be beat? After 18 terms as Alaska’s lone Congressman, many people will continue to vote for him simply out of habit, regardless of his current legal woes, arguing that his seniority is too valuable to give up.
Young, who is currently under federal investigation for his ties to VECO (among other things, see the website Drop Don for all the details), appears to be at his most vulnerable in years. Even republican Governor Sarah Palin has said that it’s time for a change, and immediately endorsed Parnell after making his announcement at last week’s Alaska Republican Convention.
One can only hope that Parnell will finally be a worthy opponent for Young’s Congress seat. Many others have tried unsuccessfully in years past to take Young’s place, but none have had as high a profile as the current Lt. Governor (whose father, Pat Parnell, ran against Young in 1980, but only garnered around 25% of the vote).
Parnell may very well have the best chances of any of Young’s prior opponents, but it’s difficult to say whether the fact that they are both from the same party will help or hurt him.
2 responses so far ↓
INTERIOR REPUBLICAN // March 17, 2008 at 2:16 am |
I’m in league with a few of the movers and shakers in Interior AK that are fed up with Young’s arrogant, asinine attitude. He’ll quickly find out this summer the dried up support ($$$) from individuals and PAC’s…as a matter of fact, only 22 supporters came out in early January at Pike’s, and even Ms. Ruby was concerned about voting for Big Don. There were 5 times as many folks crammed into the lobby of the Regency the week following to see Uncle Ted.
Brandon // March 17, 2008 at 6:26 am |
@Interior Republican – Thanks for the comment. I agree, it’s really looking like support for Don is finally drying up. And even though he is refusing to comment on his legal troubles, and keeps dismissing it like it’s not a big deal, nobody spends $850,000 on lawyers for the sheer joy of it. He’s in trouble, and he knows it.