Geoff Young

Last updated
Geoff Young
Geoff Young on WeThePeople (cropped).jpg
Young in 2016
Born (1956-06-25) June 25, 1956 (age 67)
Education Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Kentucky
Political party Democratic (2014–2020; 2022–present)
Other political
affiliations
Green (2012)
Republican (2020)
Website https://www.young4ky.com/

Geoffrey M. Young (born June 25, 1956) is an American perennial candidate who has run for numerous offices in Kentucky. He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Kentucky's 6th congressional district in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022, as well as for Governor of Kentucky in 2015, 2019 and 2023. He has been a member of the Democratic Party since 2022.

Contents

Early life and education

Young was born in Massachusetts. [1] He graduated from Marblehead High School in 1974 and earned a Bachelor's degree in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977, and a Master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1981. [2] In 1982, he moved to Fayette County, Kentucky to attend the University of Kentucky; [1] he graduated with a master's degree in Agricultural economics in 1988. [2]

Political career

Young is a perennial candidate from Kentucky. [3] Young first ran for office in 2012 as the Kentucky Green Party candidate for state house District 45. [4] By 2022, Young had never made it past a primary election and had run for the Democratic Party's nomination in Kentucky's 6th congressional district in 2014, 2016, and 2018 and for the Governor of Kentucky in 2015 and 2019. [3] [5] In 2020, Young ran as a Republican for Kentucky's 6th congressional district and lost the primary. [2]

In 2022, Young won the Democratic Party's nomination for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the race against Andy Barr. Both the Kentucky Democratic Party and Governor Andy Beshear refused to endorse or support his campaign. [5] [lower-alpha 1] During the 2022 campaign, Young was denounced by Democrats and Republicans for claiming Ukraine was controlled by Nazis and for supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [6] [7] [8] In 2023, Young ran for governor in the Democratic primary against Beshear and Peppy Martin. [9] Beshear won the primary with over 90% of the vote. [10] On December 5, 2023, he filed to run for representative of Kentucky's 3rd congressional district in the 2024 elections. He will face incumbent Morgan McGarvey and Jared Randall in the primary election on May 21, 2024. [11]

Personal life

Young is Jewish. [2]

Notes

  1. The party refused to endorse him because he had sued them multiple times, while Beshear refused to endorse Young because Young had allegedly called him a "criminal" in front of his son. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 United States gubernatorial elections</span>

United States gubernatorial elections were held in October and November 2007 in three states. The final results were a net change of zero among the parties. Republicans picked up the open seat in Louisiana and reelected incumbent Haley Barbour in Mississippi, while Democrats defeated Republican incumbent Ernie Fletcher in Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Kentucky gubernatorial election</span> Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Kentucky

The 2007 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2007. In this election, incumbent Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher ran for reelection to a second term, but was soundly defeated by Democratic challenger Steve Beshear. A primary election to determine the Republican and Democratic nominees for governor was held on May 22, 2007, in which Fletcher and Beshear won their respective primaries. Steve Beshear's son Andy was elected Kentucky's State Attorney General in 2015 and Kentucky's Governor in 2019 and 2023.

Peppy Martin is an American public relations executive who is also a perennial candidate for office in the state of Kentucky. She was the unsuccessful Republican nominee in the 1999 gubernatorial election, and later ran in the 2003 Republican primary for Auditor of Public Accounts, and in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election Democratic primary for governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 United States Senate election in Kentucky</span>

The 2014 United States Senate election in Kentucky took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky</span> House elections for the 113th Congress in Kentucky

The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Kentucky, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections will coincide with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election. Primary elections were held on May 22, 2012.

Elisabeth Jensen is an education advocate and the Democratic Party nominee for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Kentucky elections</span> General election in the state of Kentucky

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Kentucky on November 3, 2015. All of Kentucky's executive officers were up for election. Primary elections were held on May 19, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky</span> House of Representative election

The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Kentucky, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on May 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election</span> Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Kentucky

The 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2019, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky. The Democratic nominee, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, defeated Republican incumbent Matt Bevin by just over 5,000 votes, or 0.37%, making this the closest gubernatorial election in Kentucky since 1899 by total votes, and the closest since 1915 by percentage. It was also the closest race of the 2019 gubernatorial election cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 United States gubernatorial elections</span>

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 2019, in Kentucky and Mississippi, and on October 12, 2019, with a runoff on November 16, in Louisiana. These elections formed part of the 2019 United States elections. The last regular gubernatorial elections for all three states were in 2015. The Democrats had to defend an incumbent in Louisiana, while the Republicans had to defend an incumbent in Kentucky plus an open seat in Mississippi. Though all three seats up were in typically Republican states, the election cycle became unexpectedly competitive: Kentucky and Louisiana were seen as highly contested races; and Mississippi's race ultimately became closer than usual, despite being seen as favorable for the Republicans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky</span>

The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Kentucky, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Kentucky elections</span>

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Kentucky on November 5, 2019, with all executive offices in the state up for election. Primary elections were held on May 21, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States Senate election in Kentucky</span>

The 2022 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent Kentucky. Incumbent Republican Rand Paul won reelection to a third term, defeating Democratic nominee Charles Booker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 United States Senate election in Nevada</span>

The 2024 United States Senate election in Nevada will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Nevada. Incumbent Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen, elected in 2018 over incumbent Republican Dean Heller, is seeking a second term in office. Primary elections are scheduled to take place on June 11, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky</span>

The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Kentucky, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.

The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of Tennessee, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election</span>

The 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2023, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky. Incumbent Democratic governor Andy Beshear won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican state attorney general Daniel Cameron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 United States attorney general elections</span>

The 2019 United States attorney general elections were held primarily on November 5, 2019, in 3 states. The previous attorney general elections for this group of states took place in 2015. One state attorney general ran for reelection and won, while Democrat Jim Hood of Mississippi and Andy Beshear of Kentucky did not run for re-election to run for governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 North Carolina gubernatorial election</span>

The 2024 North Carolina gubernatorial election will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various other state and local elections. Incumbent Governor Roy Cooper is term-limited and can not seek re-election to a third consecutive term in office. This is the only Democratic-held governorship up for election in 2024 in a state Donald Trump won in 2020. Primary elections took place on March 5, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Kentucky elections</span> U.S. election

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Kentucky on November 7, 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 "Candidate Conversations: Geoff Young". Spectrum News. April 17, 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Geoff Young". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  3. 1 2 "Kentucky Primary 2019: Geoff Young, The Perennial Candidate". Louisville Public Media. May 13, 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  4. Rucker, Ericka (May 16, 2023). "Nothing Shocking: Kentucky's Beshear And Cameron Sail To Primary Wins Over Opponents, Will Face Off In Fall". Leo Weekly. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Borton, Byland (May 20, 2022). "Kentucky Democratic Party, Beshear won't back Congressional nominee Geoff Young". Louisville Public Media. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  6. Buczek, Karolina (October 28, 2022). "Why KY Democrats won't support one of their Democratic nominees for Congress". LEX18 . Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  7. Recker, Scott (May 19, 2022). "Democrats Don't Want to Support Congressional Candidate They Say Sued and Harassed Them". Leo Weekly. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  8. Reynolds, Nick (2022-08-24). "Meet the Democrat Siding With Putin on the Ukraine War". Newsweek. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  9. "Geoff Young announces campaign for Kentucky Governor 2023". LEX18 . November 13, 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  10. Krauth, Olivia (May 16, 2023). "Daniel Cameron wins GOP nod in governor's primary, will face Andy Beshear". Courier-Journal. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  11. "Election Candidate Filings - US Representative". web.sos.ky.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-30.