Geoffrey M. Young (born June 25, 1956) is an American

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

who has run for numerous offices in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. He ran for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in Kentucky's 6th congressional district in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022, as well as for

Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; sinc ...

in 2015, 2019 and 2023. Young has sought office as a member of the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

, Democratic, and Republican parties, and has been a member of the Democratic Party since 2022.

Early life and education

Young was born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He graduated from

Marblehead High School Marblehead High School is a public high school located in Marblehead, Massachusetts, United States. History The school has approximately 879 students. The current campus began construction in 2001, and opened for the 2002–2003 school year. In ...

in 1974 and earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in economics from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1977, and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in mechanical engineering from the

University of Massachusetts at Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

in 1981. In 1982, he moved to

Fayette County, Kentucky Fayette County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky and is consolidated with the city of Lexington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous county in the common ...

to attend the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

; he graduated with a master's degree in

Agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

in 1988.

Political career

Young is a

from

. Young first ran for office in 2012 as the Kentucky

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

candidate for state house District 45. By 2022, Young had never made it past a

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

and had run for the Democratic Party's nomination in Kentucky's 6th congressional district in 2014, 2016, and 2018 and for the

in 2015 and 2019. In 2020, Young ran as a Republican for Kentucky's 6th congressional district and lost the primary. Young has frequently filed lawsuits against the

Kentucky Democratic Party The Kentucky Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is currently the minority party in the state, as the rival Republican Party of Kentucky overwhelmingly dominates in the state legislature, ...

, claiming they had rigged primary elections against him. In 2022, Young won the Democratic Party's nomination for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the race against

Andy Barr Garland Hale "Andy" Barr IV (born July 24, 1973) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kentucky's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the adm ...

. The Kentucky Democratic Party refused to endorse or support Young's campaign due to frequent lawsuits being filed against them by Young, and Governor

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

refused to endorse Young because he had allegedly called Beshear a "criminal" in front of Beshear's son, with Beshear adding that Young "needs help". During the 2022 campaign, Young was denounced by Democrats and Republicans for claiming

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

was controlled by

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and for supporting the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. In 2023, Young ran for governor in the Democratic primary against Beshear and

Peppy Martin Peppy Martin (born Josephine Ellen Martin; May 1, 1946) 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 elect ...

. Beshear won the primary with over 90% of the vote. On December 5, 2023, he filed to run for representative of

Kentucky's 3rd congressional district Kentucky's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It encompasses almost all of Louisville Metro, which, since the merger of 2003, is consolidated with Jefferson County, though other incorporate ...

in the

2024 elections This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

. He faced incumbent

Morgan McGarvey John Morgan McGarvey (born December 23, 1979) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kentucky's 3rd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the 19th district in ...

and Jared Randall in the primary election on May 21, 2024, losing with 11.2% of the vote against McGarvey's 84.1%.

Personal life

Young is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

References