Usually being the longest currently serving Republican in a Republican controlled House of Representatives means that Don Young should exert an enormous amount of power influence, i.e. chairing his choice of committee or even securing his own position within the House leadership. Unfortunately for our 21-term congressman, committee chairs are no longer chosen according to seniority. Instead the speaker and the party caucuses appoint committee members and the chairs. Congressman Young’s repeated ethics violations and his continued alienation of his own party makes it politically toxic for Speaker John Boehner and the Republicans to allow him to chair any committees or grant him any kind of leadership role.
With the myth of our congressman’s influence in the majority party through seniority largely debunked, it becomes apparent that Congressman Young is no longer able to effectively serve Alaska. When the only news Alaska hears about our congressman is that he is under investigation by the House Committee on Ethics, that he manhandled a congressional staffer, made racist remarks on local radio, threatened his opponent behind the scenes before a debate or made grossly insensitive remarks about suicide to a grieving high school, it is clear it is time for a change.
A vote for Young in this election is a signal that Alaska is willing to go on ignoring these recurrent offenses. However, Forrest Dunbar, Young’s challenger, is intelligent, vibrant and a dynamic leader. Meeting him was an honor, and I believe he is the right man to represent Alaska. Royal Henderson
