JUNEAU EMPIRE: Don Young sworn in for 21st term
Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, took the oath of office for his 21st term in the United States House of Representatives Thursday in Washington, D.C., alongside other House members of the 113th Congress.
Young, 79, defeated outgoing Rep. Sharon Cissna, D-Anchorage, by a landslide in the Nov. 6, 2012, election.
Shortly after being sworn in, Young cut through murmuring on the House floor after newly elected Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., broke with fellow members of the Republican caucus by voting for Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., instead of Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, for Speaker of the House. Asked for his vote, Young loudly declared, “The great state of Alaska votes for John Boehner.”
Young’s vote was the 214th for Boehner, putting him over the top with a majority of the 426 representatives who voted for Speaker Thursday. Boehner ultimately collected 220 votes.
Young has represented all of Alaska in Congress since winning a special election in 1973 to serve out the unexpired term of Democrat Nick Begich, father of now-Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, after then-Rep. Begich perished in a plane crash. He is only the fourth person to represent Alaska in the House since it achieved statehood in 1959.
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