If the 2024 political races were decided on the basketball hardwood, just might be your next U.S. senator from Missouri.
But the 6-foot-6-inch Webb City businessman is taking his shot at incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s seat from the no-party line.
Saying he entered the race with his “eyes wide open,” Young is well aware that the shot he’s taking is indeed a long one.
“I didn’t grow up aspiring to be a U.S. senator,” said the father of six. “But we’ve become completely dysfunctional and without direction. We have to change.”
Sure, the politically aware have heard this argument before, how the two-party system steadily fails to offer good candidates.
And while the argument is nothing new, polls show Americans’ general distaste for electing either Joe Biden or Donald Trump could indicate at least a chance for a change, the chance Young is counting on.
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“Roughly, 43% of U.S. voters identify themselves as independents, which would seem to give hope to third-party candidates, like the ‘No Labels’ ticket,” Young said.
Young noted that of those people who identified themselves as independents, 70% wanted neither Biden or Trump to be main candidates.
And more recent national polls show that a majority of the voters, from each main parties, don’t want them to be their flag-bearer in November.
So Young has been on the road, meeting people whom he said are genuinely open to his message. He said the mood of the electorate has made an impact on him.
“Republicans seem not excited, and Democrats seem afraid,” he said, adding that the extreme members of each of the parties are alienating voters.
“The (opposing) poles of both parties are controlling the agenda, and the people in the middle are not being represented,” he said.
Young has lived in Webb City, just north of Joplin, for eight years. Before that, he worked as a lawyer in Washington, D.C. after earning an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young and a law degree from Harvard.
This summer, Young sold his interest in a human resources payroll services company, and has been campaigning full-time for last six or so months.
And even though the trail has forced him to ask strangers for money — “It’s the hardest part; I find it incredibly painful” — he said the reception on the road has been heartening.
“The only real resistance I get is from the (hard-core) party people,” Young said. “It’s funny how both parties always tell people not to throw away their vote.”
“Seems that voting for a third-party candidate always helps ‘the other guy,’” he said.
In this case, the other guys in this race who likely will make it to the November general election are Republican Hawley and Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce.
At least by being a non-party candidate, Young will avoid primary battles and go directly to the November election.
Young said he knows his chances of winning are slimmer than if he were with a specific party. But for him, this route seemed to be the best way to score his goal.
“My goal is to help create significant change in the way Washington operates,” he said. “And I don’t think that can come from a two-party system.”