“As a third-generation Alaskan and a mother of four, Alyse Galvin’s life, career and campaign have been laser focused on the needs of working families. As an education leader and independent voice, Alyse has shown she’s dedicated to defending the values of Alaska, like expanding economic opportunity and access to quality and affordable health care,” said DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos. “Meanwhile, Alaskans know Don Young has stopped delivering for their state and are ready for change. Alyse’s powerful campaign, harnessing unprecedented grassroots energy sets Alaska on the course for a change in leadership this November.”
—
To: Interested Parties
From: Andy Orellana, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: August 19, 2020
Subject: The Case Against Don Young
After nearly five decades in public office, Congressman Don Young has shown the people of Alaska that he has lost his way.
Alaska’s economy was struggling even before the coronavirus, but now even more Alaskans are being left behind. In 2020, voters are searching for an independent Alaskan leader who has the track record of getting to work for all Alaskans – like Alyse Galvin, a representative who understands their needs, like need for affordable health care, lower RX drug costs, and an economy that leaves works for everyone.
Alaskans know Don Young has stopped delivering for Alaska. Instead, he’s gotten too cozy with his corporate donors and forgotten what’s important to working families in his state.
While health care costs skyrocket out of control and the pandemic impacts all parts of people’s lives, Young downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic at a senior center and mockingly referred to coronavirus as the “beer virus”, placing Alaska seniors at risk telling them to “go forth with everyday activities.”
In case there’s any doubt about where Young’s allegiances lie, he’s taken over $300,000 in campaign donations from big pharma and the health care industry and then voted to take away health care from thousands of Alaskan families. Young voted to not only strip coverage from 75,000 Alaskans but also voted to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions like COVID-19, remove caps on exploding out of pocket costs, and increase the cost of prescription drugs. And Young voted against the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which would have reduced certain drug prices by nearly 55 percent on average, and voted to cut Medicare and Medicaid.
In stark contrast, Alyse Galvin has already proven that she isn’t beholden to Washington DC or to special interests, pledging to not take a dime of corporate PAC money. Instead, she’ll bring the kind of independent leadership that Alaska’s workers, families, and seniors need and expect.
This explains why Alaskans are rallying around Alyse for Congress. Poll after poll shows Alyse Galvin makes the race for Alaska’s sole Congressional seat a dead heat for the first time in over two decades. The dark-money wing of the House GOP admitted as much last election when they parachuted in and spent 6-figures in GOTV support in order to prop up Young to get him over the finish line.
From starting her own small businesses to working multiple jobs to put food on the table, Alyse Galvin is no stranger to hard work and will fight for Alaska families, just like she fought to restore funding and improve Alaska’s education system. During her time leading the largest education coalition in Alaska state history, Alyse has shown she can work with Republicans and independents to deliver for Alaska families, working to ensure every child in Alaska has a first-rate education that allows them to stay in Alaska to work good jobs and raise their families.
The contrast between Don Young and Alyse Galvin could not be more clear: more of the same destructive politics of attacking health care and diminishing returns from Don Young who’s clearly in the pocket of his corporate donors, or a breath of fresh air and an independent voice who has shown how to put people over party and has a record of delivering results for Alaska families.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
HEADLINE: Washington Post: “In Republican Alaska, GOP incumbents face strongest challenges in decades amid the coronavirus pandemic” [Washington Post, 08/15/2020]
“Five months ago, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) appeared before more than 50 seniors in a town north of Anchorage and dismissed the surging coronavirus pandemic as “the beer virus” that was built mostly on “hysteria” by the media. A chastened Young taped a message soon after from Washington doing the almost unthinkable — apologizing, sort of — for a lawmaker whose gruff demeanor has fit nicely with the Last Frontier.” [Washington Post, 08/15/2020]
HEADLINE: Anchorage Daily News: “Rep. Don Young tells Alaska seniors ‘beer virus’ fears are overblown, skips vote on COVID-19 relief” [Anchorage Daily News, 3/19/2020]
“They call it the coronavirus. I call it the beer virus. How do you like that?” Young, 86, said to laughter in a reference to the popular Corona beer. “It attacks us senior citizens. I’m one of you. I still say we have to as a nation and state go forth with everyday activities.” [Anchorage Daily News, 3/19/2020]
HEADLINE: Newsweek: “Alaska Congressman Who Called Coronavirus the ‘Beer Virus’ Attended NRA Fundraiser After Skipping COVID-19 Relief Fund Vote” [Newsweek, 3/19/2020]
MSNBC’s Brian William On The 11th Hour: “The problem is two weeks ago [Young] downplayed the crisis at a Senior Center, calling this highly contagious disease a ‘beer virus’, whatever that means. He then told the seniors in the room that Alaska should, ‘go forth with our everyday activities.’ The realities of this crisis are now grim.’” [MSNBC, 3/30/2020]
HEADLINE: Alaska Public Media: “Why Alaska’s Rep. Don Young opposed ‘socialist’ coronavirus aid bill but would likely vote for it now” [Alaska Public Media, 3/31/2020]
HEADLINE: Alaska Public Media: “Alaska’s Congressman Missed Votes Last Week. He Could’ve Voted Remotely But He Doesn’t Believe In It” [Alaska Public Media, 6/01/2020]
HEADLINE: Bloomberg Gov: “Alaska Independent Tries Again to Topple House Dean Don Young” [Bloomberg Gov, 1/28/2020]
HEADLINE: National Journal: “Dems expand the map to Alaska” [National Journal, 1/23/2020]
“It is an uphill battle for Galvin […] But this could quietly be one of the more attractive pickup opportunities for Democrats this cycle as they aim not only to defend the majority but expand it. In 2018, Galvin gave Young his most competitive race in more than a decade, coming within 7 points of unseating the entrenched incumbent. Now she’s back for a rematch, with early backing from national Democratic groups and fundraising that puts her on par with other serious Democratic challengers.” [National Journal, 1/23/2020]
HEADLINE: PPP – “Close Races Abound in Alaska” [PPP, 7/09/2020]
“The US House race in the state looks like a toss up, with Alyse Galvin holding a slight advantage over Don Young at 43-41. Young is unpopular, with 35% of voters approving of him and 44% disapproving. Galvin has a net +8 favorability rating at 30/22, giving her the best numbers of the 8 political figures we tested in the poll.” [PPP, 7/09/2020]
HEADLINE: Daily Beast: “‘A Little Bit Weird’ Alaska Flirts With Purple-State Status” [Daily Beast, 6/30/2020]
“In 2018, Young, who is usually elected by wide margins, came within 6 points of defeat to independent Alyse Galvin, without much national investment in the race. Galvin is running again against Young in 2020, and a recent survey from pollster Data for Progress found the two candidates effectively tied.” [Daily Beast, 6/30/2020]
HEADLINE: Alaska Public Media: “In second bid to unseat Alaska’s Young, challenger Galvin cites his ‘big money’ interests” [Alaska Public Media, 11/21/2019]
HEADLINE: Juneau Empire: “Juneauites turn out to support Alyse Galvin in her campaign to unseat Don Young” [Juneau Empire, 11/26/2019]
Bad on Health Care for Alaskans, Beholden to His Special Interests Corporate Donors
GUTTING PROTECTIONS FOR THOSE WITH PREEXISTING CONDITIONS, RAISING RX DRUG AND HEALTH CARE COSTS, POCKETING CORPORATE CAMPAIGN CASH
Alaskans’ health care costs have skyrocketed, and options are dwindling, but Don Young doesn’t get it. Thirty years ago, Alaska’s per-capita spending on health care was about the same as the national average, but now, Alaska families are paying more than $11,000 per capita – higher than any other state in the country. Hospital care costs for Alaskans are now 50% higher than the national average, and 80% higher for physician and clinical services.
Let me repeat that – spending for physician and clinical services in Alaska are up to 80% more than the national average.
After almost half a century in office, Don Young has shown he has forgotten Alaska’s needs and is nothing more than a creature of DC and a rubber stamp for the Washington establishment and his corporate donors. Rather than sticking up for the best interests of his home state and combating skyrocketing health care costs, he bragged that he voted over 50 times to repeal health care for 75,000 of his constituents, including those with preexisting conditions.
Making matters worse for families in Alaska, Don Young voted to support a lawsuit which could cause millions of hardworking families to lose their healthcare and strip protections for those with pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes, and COVID-19. Not to mention, Young voted against the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which would have reduced drug prices by nearly 55 percent on average, and voted to cut Medicare and Medicaid. All the while, Young has been filling his campaign coffers with hundreds of thousands of dollars in special-interests money from Big Pharma and the insurance industries.
Meanwhile, Young is running up against a third-generation Alaskan in Alyse Galvin, whose independent voice has made clear that she’s not beholden to corporate special interests and ready to fight for more affordable and accessible health care for working Alaskan families.
DON YOUNG PUTS HIMSELF AND CORPORATE DONORS AHEAD OF ALASKANS
When Don Young isn’t cutting health care and turning his back on the kitchen table challenges Alaskans face day in day out, he is looking out for himself and his special interest donors instead. In his nearly five decades in public office, Young has taken lobbyist cash hand over fist, including tens of thousands of dollars in special gifts and trips, while he’s earmarked funds to benefit special interests, including ten million dollars for a road in Florida that benefitted a campaign contributor. Young even voted multiple times to continue to provide Members of Congress access to tax-payer funded first-class flights and corporate jets.
And yet, Young failed to report gifts from his corporate donors and was caught taking sixty thousand dollars after being investigated by the FBI for bribery, all while violating House ethics rules at least seventeen times. And when questioned about his steering of federal earmarks to his campaign donors, Young defended his corrupt ways saying he was “always proud” of his work to steer taxpayer funds to his corporate pals.
Note to Alaska’s Families and Small Businesses – it seems if you want Don Young to stand up for you, all you need to do is write him a check.
So when the time came to vote on the GOP Tax Scam that gave 83% of the benefits to the wealthiest 1% of Americans while increasing the deficit by $1.5 trillion, Don Young was on board. And DC Republicans and Don Young say they will pay for these tax handouts to the wealthy by putting the future of Social Security and Medicare — which hundreds of thousands of Alaskans have paid into and depend on every month — at risk.
While Young can afford to gamble with the future, the thousands of seniors who call Alaska home cannot.
DON YOUNG’S DIMINISHING RETURNS FOR ALASKANS
Don Young used to be someone in the halls of Washington DC. But after a battery of House Ethics investigations and being removed from his committees, his influence has dwindled. While Don Young used to chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was able to deliver funds for Alaska’s highways and roads, Young was forced to step down following a corruption scandal. Now Alaska’s infrastructure needs have been completely gutted, and the state has some of the worst roads in the nation.
And now, Young can’t even be bothered show up to work. Don Young has one of the worst attendance records in the House, missing one in every eight votes over his career. Those include votes to approve pipeline infrastructure, support the National Petroleum Reserve and a vote that included $30 million for Alaska from the Department of Interior.
Over his 47 years in office, Don Young has become the embodiment of everything that people think is wrong with Congress, while Alyse Galvin has a proven track record of bringing needed investments and putting the people of Alaska first, not herself.
PATH TO VICTORY
Alaska’s at-large seat is a majority rural district but is anchored by the suburbs and City of Anchorage, which comprises over forty percent of the state’s electorate. And while Trump and other Republicans have found electoral footing in the state, a large majority of Alaskans identify as independents.
After nearly five decades as the state’s sole congressional representative, Alaskans have grown tired of Don Young’s antics and inability to deliver for the people of Alaska. The voters know Don Young isn’t showing up for Alaska anymore and are ready for new independent leadership. This isn’t idle talk – the numbers bear this out, with poll after poll showing Don Young underwater by double digits and losing independent voters to Galvin.
While she came up short in 2018, Galvin has performed better than any Young opponent in nearly 30 years, garnering nearly 47% of the vote. This time, Galvin is building a war chest to compete in 2020, with a significant cash on hand advantage of nearly $700k over Young and a defined record of being an independent thinker who doesn’t kneel to corporate special interests.
The choice for Alaska’s voters is clear in November: a career politician and corporate DC Republican yes-man in Don Young, or Alyse Galvin, an independent community and education leader who’s shown that her only priority is working Alaskans.
###