Todd Young

Todd Young
United States Senator
from Indiana
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Serving with Joe Donnelly
Preceded by Dan Coats
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Indiana's 9th district
In office
January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by Baron Hill
Succeeded by Trey Hollingsworth
Personal details
Born Todd Christopher Young
(1972-08-24) August 24, 1972
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Jennifer Tucker
Children 4
Education United States Naval Academy (BS)
University of Chicago (MBA)
University of London (MA)
Indiana University (JD)
Website Senate website
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Marine Corps
Years of service 1995–2000
Rank Captain

Todd Christopher Young (born August 24, 1972) is an American politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Indiana since 2017. From 2011 to 2017 he was the U.S. Representative for Indiana's 9th congressional district. Young is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected to the United States Senate in the November 8, 2016, general election, succeeding retiring Republican Dan Coats.

Early life

Young was born August 24, 1972 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the second of three children of Nancy R. (née Pierce) and Bruce H. Young.[1] He lived in Marion County, Indiana for several years before settling in Hamilton County, Indiana, where he attended public schools and won a state soccer championship.[2] In 1990, Young graduated from Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana.[3]

Military career

Just a few weeks after graduating from high school, Young enlisted in the United States Navy and reported for duty in Newport, Rhode Island. In May 1991, he received an appointment from the Secretary of the Navy to attend the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where his classmates elected him a class officer and he earned a varsity letter as a member of Navy's NCAA Division I soccer team. He graduated cum laude in 1995,[4] earning a B.S. in political science, and accepted a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Upon graduating from Annapolis, Young trained for six months as a rifle platoon commander at the Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, where he qualified as an expert rifleman. In 1996, he completed the Naval Intelligence Officer Basic Course in Dam Neck, Virginia, and was entrusted with a Top Secret security clearance. Young then led the intelligence department of VMU-2, an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron based in Cherry Point, North Carolina, where he participated in various military operations, including counter-narcotics activities in the Caribbean, and was trained in Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection. While stationed in the Chicago area, Young earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Post-military career

Young was honorably discharged from active duty in 2000 as a US Marine Captain. After leaving active duty, Young spent a year in London, attending the University of London's Institute of United States Studies. After writing a thesis on the economic history of Midwestern agriculture, in 2001 Young received his MA in American politics.[5]

In the summer of 2001, Young traveled to former Communist countries in Eastern Europe where he studied the transition from centrally planned economies to free markets through an executive education program with the Leipzig Graduate School of Management, the first private business school in eastern Germany. He worked as an adjunct professor of public affairs at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs and attended law school at night.[6] In 2004, he joined Indiana-based Crowe Chizek and Company as a management consultant, helping state and local government clients improve service delivery to Indiana citizens.

In 2006, Young earned his J.D. from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, where he was President of the school's Federalist Society chapter. Upon graduation he joined the Paoli, Indiana-based firm Tucker and Tucker, P.C.[6] Young is a member of the 2007 class of the Indiana Leadership Forum.[7]

Early political career

In 2001, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he briefly worked at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank. Then he joined the staff of U.S. senator Richard Lugar as a legislative assistant[8] for energy policy. In 2003, Young volunteered for Mitch Daniels's campaign for governor of Indiana. He was a delegate to the Indiana Republican state convention and as a vice precinct committeeman. From 2007 to 2010, Young served as Assistant Deputy Prosecutor for Orange County, Indiana.[9] In 2007, Indiana's Young Republicans named Young the "Southern Man of the Year" for his leadership on behalf of the Republican Party in southern Indiana. In 2007, Young founded a fiscal responsibility advocacy group, the National Organization for People vs. Irresponsible Government Spending.[6]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

On January 26, 2009, Young announced that he would run for the United States congressional seat in Indiana's 9th district as a Republican.[10][11][12]

Young competed with fellow Republicans Mike Sodrel and Travis Hankins for the party's nomination for Congress and won, challenging incumbent Democrat Baron Hill in the general election. Young received endorsements from former Vice President Dan Quayle[13] as well as Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman, Attorney General Greg Zoeller, Secretary of State Todd Rokita, Auditor Tim Berry, and Treasurer Richard Mourdock.[12]

Young won the primary and general elections, defeating incumbent Baron Hill on November 2, 2010, and was seated in the 112th Congress in January 2011.[14]

2012

Young defeated Shelli Yoder, winning 55% of the vote in the newly redrawn 9th district.[15]

Tenure

Young is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership along with three other Republican senators.[16] The Main Street Partnership is considered to be an association of moderate Republicans.[17] In 2013 the National Journal gave Young an overall composite rating of 69% conservative and 31% liberal, an economic rating of 69% conservative and 30% liberal, a social rating of 57% conservative and 42% liberal, and a foreign policy rating of 77% conservative and 15% liberal.[18]

In the 112th Congress, Young voted with the Republican Party 95% of the time.[19] During the 113th Congress, the Human Rights Campaign, which rates politicians' support for LGBT issues, rated Young 30%, indicating a mixed record.[20] In July 2012, Young took over as the lead sponsor of the REINS Act, a bill that passed the House in 2011 and would require congressional approval for rules with greater than $100 million in economic impact.[21]

In the 112th Congress, Young was a member of the House Budget Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. On the latter, he focused on seapower, electronic warfare, and military grand strategy of the United States. During the first session of the 112th Congress, he employed one of the German Marshall Fund's Congressional Fellows as military legislative aide.

In 2010, Young stated that he was uncertain what was causing the observed heating of the planet, that it could be sunspots or normal cycles of nature, and that "the science is not settled."[22] That same year he signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any global warming legislation that would raise taxes.[23]

In 2011, he voted for the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011.[24] In 2014, he said that it is "not necessarily the case" that there is a scientific consensus on climate change.[25]

When he introduced the Fairness for American Families Act, Young argued that "rather than driving healthcare costs down, the individual mandate is imposing a new tax and burdensome costs on middle class families" and therefore "hardworking Americans deserve the same exemptions that President Obama is unilaterally granting to businesses and labor unions."[27]

Committee assignments

Caucus Memberships

  • Congressional Cement Caucus

U.S. Senate

Young with Brett Kavanaugh in 2018
Young with President Donald Trump in 2018
Young with Vice President Mike Pence in 2017

2016 election

Rather than run for reelection to the House, Young announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 election to fill the Senate seat of the retiring Dan Coats.[31] Also filing for the Republican primary was U.S. Representative Marlin Stutzman. Although Young was certified as having submitted enough signatures to qualify for the primary ballot, that official certification was challenged, and a tally by the Associated Press concluded that Young had fallen short.[32] The state Election Commission scheduled a hearing on the challenge for February 19, 2016.[32] The commission voted down the challenge with a 2-2 vote and Young remained on the ballot.[33]

Young easily defeated Stutzman in the May 3 primary, taking 67 percent of approximately one million votes cast.[34] He was initially slated to face former U.S. Representative Baron Hill, whom Young had defeated in 2010 to win his congressional seat, but on July 11, Hill announced he was dropping out of the Senate race.[35] Hill was replaced by Evan Bayh, who had held the seat from 1999 to 2011.[36] Young defeated Bayh in the November 8 general election, winning 52% of the vote to Bayh's 42%.[37][38]n.[39]

Tenure

On January 3, 2017, Young was sworn into the United States Senate in the 115th Congress by Vice President Joe Biden. Young was ranked the ninth most bipartisan Senator in the first session of the 115th Congress by the Bipartisan Index, a metric created by the Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy to assess congressional bipartisanship.[40][41] GovTrack noted that during the same period, Young joined more bipartisan bills than any other freshman Senator.[42]

Committee assignments

Political positions

Young is a member of Republican Main Street Partnership, a group that presents what it describes as centrist Republican solutions in politics; it is considered a center to center-right Republican organization.[43] He has a lifetime conservative grade of 81% from the American Conservative Union and was given a 0% grade in 2016 by the progressive Americans for Democratic Action. As of July 2018, according to Five ThirtyEight, Young voted with President Trump's position on legislation 93.3% of the time. The nonpartisan National Journal determined, based on its 2013 voting analysis, that Young has a composite 69% conservative score and a 31% liberal score.[44]

Abortion and Reproductive Issues

Young describes himself as pro-life and is against legal abortion. He was endorsed by the anti-abortion National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), which gave him a 100% rating in 2018; he has a 0% rating from the pro-choice groups NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood.[44] Young also believes that employers with religious objections should not be required to provide birth control to their female employees.[45] He was a co-sponsor of legislation to defund Planned Parenthood and voted to prohibit federal funding for Planned Parenthood.[46]

Gun law

The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Young for Senate in 2016 and has given him an "A+" rating for his support of pro-gun positions.[47] As of 2017, Young has received $2,896,732 in donations from the NRA.[48]

Immigration

Young opposes the DREAM Act and a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.[45] NumbersUSA, which wants to restrict and reduce immigration, has given him a lifetime 80% rating while the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which also seeks to restrict immigration, gave him a 100% score; the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which supports immigration reform, gave Young a 33% rating.[44] UnidosUS, formerly La Raza, which supports immigration reform, gave Young a 59% rating in 2014.[44] Young has said he wants an immigration system based on merit and job skills.[49] In 2018, he introduced a bill to end family separations at the border that resulted from President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy.[50]

Same-sex marriage and LGBT Issues

The organization On The Issues considers Young to be neutral on the issue of same-sex marriage; he was given a 30% rating by Human Rights Campaign, which supports same-sex marriage and gay rights, indicating a mixed record.[51] Young believes same-sex marriage should be left to the states to decide.[52] He said that he supports the current policy allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.[53] In 2016, Young was among the Republicans who voted with Democrats in favor of a spending amendment to uphold President Obama's executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation for federal contractors.[54] He was one of 30 Republicans who voted for an amendment to prohibit discrimination by federal contractors, but voted against a similar amendment in a military spending bill.[55]

Personal life

Todd Young and Jennifer Tucker married in 2005; the couple has four children.[56] Jennifer is the niece of former Vice President Dan Quayle, whose former U.S. Senate seat Young now holds.

Electoral history

Indiana's 9th Congressional District Election, 2010[57]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Todd Young 118,138 52.2
Democratic Baron Hill 95,387 42.2
Libertarian Greg Knott 12,377 5.4
Indiana's 9th Congressional District election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Todd Young 165,332 55.4
Democratic Shelli Yoder 132,848 44.6
Total votes 298,180 100.0
Indiana's 9th Congressional District election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Todd Young 99,810 63.1
Democratic Bill Bailey 52,659 33.3
Libertarian Mike Frey 5,679 3.6
Total votes 158,148 100.0
United States Senate election in Indiana, 2016 Republican primary results[58]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Todd Young 659,555 67%
Republican Marlin Stutzman 323,852 33%
Total votes 983,407 100%
United States Senate election in Indiana, 2016 [59]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Todd Young 1,423,001 52.1
Democratic Evan Bayh 1,157,799 42.4
Libertarian Lucy Brenton 149,365 5.5
Total votes 2,730,165 99%

References

  1. ↑ "Todd Young ancestry". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ Horn, Marissa (April 14, 2015). "Congressional soccer game puts Republicans on top". McClatchy DC. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  3. ↑ Swift, Fred (April 21, 2011). "CHS' Young making a name for himself". The Times. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Class Listing". Usna.com. November 9, 2001. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  5. ↑ Day, Garrett (October 28, 2014). "9th District: Young credits family, setbacks for political successes". The Statehouse File. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "Lawyer files for 9th District run". Madison Courier. January 27, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  7. ↑ "ILF Alumni, Class of 2007". Indianaleadershipforum.com. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Todd C Young, Congressional Staffer – Salary Data". LegiStorm. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  9. ↑ http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=Y000064
  10. ↑ "Ninth District Drama". Capitol Watchbolg. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  11. ↑ "NRCC adds 32 to Young Guns program". The Hill. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  12. 1 2 "Indiana poised to play major role in battle for Congress". fwdailynews.com. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Quayle Picks Dold in Competitive Primary for Kirk's Seat". CQ Politics. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Republican Todd Young wins easily over incumbent Baron Hill", Louisville Courier-Journal; accessed November 9, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Central Indiana Election Results - 13 WTHR Indianapolis". Wthr.com. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Members - Republican Main Street Partnership". Republican Main Street Partnership. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Blue Dogs Lessons From GOP Moderates". FiveThirtyEight. July 28, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  18. ↑ (Journalist),, Barnes, James A.; Keating,, Holland,; Charlie,, Cook,; Michael,, Barone,; Louis,, Jacobson,; Louis,, Peck,. The almanac of American politics 2016 : members of Congress and governors: their profiles and election results, their states and districts. ISBN 9781938518317. OCLC 927103599.
  19. ↑ "Washington Post Votes Database". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  20. ↑ "113th Congressional Scorecard" (PDF). hrc.org. Human Rights Campaign. 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Davis passes REINS Act to Young". Wfpl.org. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  22. ↑ Broder, John (October 20, 2010). "Climate Change Doubt Is Tea Party Article of Faith". The New York Times. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Americans for Prosperity Applauds Indiana U.S. House Candidate Todd Young" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  24. ↑ Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 votes, April 7, 2011; accessed November 9, 2016.
  25. ↑ "In their own words: Todd Young on climate change", video clip on WLKY.com, October 8, 2014.
  26. ↑ "H.R. 2668 – Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  27. 1 2 Kasperowicz, Pete. "House releases texts of health insurance mandate delays". TheHill.com. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  28. ↑ "House approves ObamaCare bill despite veto threat". Fox News. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  29. ↑ Kasperowicz, Pete (April 2, 2014). "House advances bill to end ObamaCare's 30-hour workweek". The Hill. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  30. 1 2 "H.R. 2575 – Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  31. ↑ "Todd Young enters crowded GOP primary for Dan Coats' Senate seat". Indystar.com. July 12, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  32. 1 2 Slodysko, Brian (February 11, 2016). "Two top Indiana Republicans said Thursday they were surprised U.S. Senate candidate Todd Young may have failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  33. ↑ Cook, Tony; Schneider, Chelsea (February 19, 2016). "Todd Young survives challenges to his U.S. Senate candidacy". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  34. ↑ Kevin Robillard (May 3, 2016). "Todd Young wins Indiana GOP Senate primary". Politico. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Baron Hill withdraws from U.S. Senate race; Evan Bayh to enter race". WTHR. July 11, 2016.
  36. ↑ Tom LoBianco (July 11, 2016). "First on CNN: Evan Bayh mounting Senate return". CNN.
  37. ↑ Gallagher, Shaun; Catanzarite, Maria (November 8, 2016). "Todd Young wins Indiana U.S. Senate seat, defeating Evan Bayh". WNDU-TV. Associated Press.
  38. ↑ "Indiana U.S. Senate Results: Todd Young Wins". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Todd Young's campaign banks heavily on outside groups".
  40. ↑ "The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Lugar Center. April 24, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  41. ↑ "Aisle-crossers". Fort Wayne, Indiana: The Journal Gazette. May 2, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  42. ↑ "Sen. Todd Young's 2017 Report Card". Washington, D.C.: GovTrack. January 6, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  43. ↑ "Republican Main Street Partnership to Showcase Centrist Republican Solutions for 2008, January 21st, 2008 - Republican Main Street Partnership". Republican Main Street Partnership. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  44. 1 2 3 4 "Todd Young's Ratings and Endorsements". votesmart.org.
  45. 1 2 Project, Campus Election Engagement (2016-10-11). "Evan Bayh vs. Todd Young: Nonpartisan Candidate Guide for 2016 Indiana Senate Race". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  46. ↑ "Todd Young's Voting Record on Issue". votesmart.org.
  47. ↑ "NRA Launches TV Ad Buy to Defeat Bayh". NRA-ILA. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  48. ↑ Leonhardt, David; Philbrick, Ian Prasad; Thompson, Stuart A. (October 4, 2017). "The Congress Members Receiving the Most N.R.A. Funding". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  49. ↑ Bulletin, Ken de la Bastide The Herald. "Sen. Todd Young wants immigration based on job skills". Herald Bulletin. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  50. ↑ "Sen. Todd Young cosponsoring Ted Cruz bill to keep immigrant families together". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  51. ↑ OnTheIssues.org. "Todd Young on the Issues". www.ontheissues.org. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  52. ↑ Bailey, Phillip M. (2014-06-26). "What Do Indiana Lawmakers Say About Judge's Ruling Rejecting Same-Sex Marriage Ban? | 89.3 WFPL News Louisville". 89.3 WFPL News Louisville. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  53. ↑ 637-9078, Dan Carden dan.carden@nwi.com, (317). "Young criticized for supporting ban on gays in military". nwitimes.com. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  54. ↑ "Indiana lawmakers take different sides on gay rights". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  55. ↑ McPherson, Lindsey; McPherson, Lindsey (2016-05-20). "Really, 30 Republicans Switched Sides on LGBT Discrimination". Roll Call. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  56. ↑ Groppe, Maureen (April 17, 2016). "U.S. Senate race: Todd Young, the GOP establishment candidate". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  57. ↑ "Congressional Election Results". Indiana Secretary of State. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  58. ↑ "Indiana Primary Election, May 3, 2016". Indiana Secretary of State. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  59. ↑ "Todd Young Tops Evan Bayh in Indiana Senate Race". New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Baron Hill		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Indiana's 9th congressional district
2011–2017		 Succeeded by
Trey Hollingsworth
Party political offices
Preceded by
Dan Coats		 Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Indiana
(Class 3)
2016		 Most recent
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
Dan Coats		 U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Indiana
2017–present
Served alongside: Joe Donnelly		 Incumbent
Current U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Chris Van Hollen		 United States Senators by seniority
91st		 Succeeded by
Tammy Duckworth
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