Neil Young, a father and social studies teacher in the Great Valley School District, believes America is headed in the wrong direction and knew he had to do something about it.
So Young, who never ran for elected office before, threw his hat into the ring for Congress to represent Chester and part of Berks Counties.
Young, a Republican, is concerned about education, the border, energy, and the economy. He is challenging incumbent Democrat Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, who portrays herself as a moderate.
“She votes with Harris-Biden 99.1 percent of the time,” said Young.
Dr. Raffi Terzian, chair of the Chester County Republican Committee, said, “Neil Young is a great husband and father, as well as a dedicated lifelong educator. His authenticity, earnestness, and strong work ethic shine through in all he does. Actively involved in his community, Neil is deeply committed to enhancing the lives of everyone in the 6th Congressional District.”
“Our current representative is not effectively serving us, as she prioritizes divisive and partisan interests over the needs of her constituents,” Terzian said. “As a member of Congress, Neil will undoubtedly work tirelessly to steer our community and nation toward a brighter future.”
The district is rated D+4, although Republican voter registration activist Scott Presler has put it on his list to flip. Presler recently announced voter registrations in Bucks County flipped to Republican and Luzerne County is close to changing.
The Young family
“I think more teachers involved in politics would offer a better solution than life-long politicians,” said Young. “A lot of teachers would make great public servants.”
In Chester County, school districts spend more than $20,000 per year per pupil, but “less than half of them read, write, or do math at grade level. To me, that’s not a good return on anyone’s investment.” Depending on the study, U.S. students rank from 18th to 30th in the world.
“I don’t want to do away with public schools, but I think public schools can be improved if they compete [with alternatives],” he said. “I think a lot of parents could find better options that fit their child’s learning [style].”
Houlahan touts the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. However, “we have only one dedicated STEM high school in all Chester County with 300 kids a year getting in,” he said.
Regarding the borders, Young said, “Almost anybody can look around and say this is a broken system. We’re seeing an influx of illegal immigration that we’ve never seen before. And we’ve got to fix that. It’s not sustainable.”
“You know, we’re restricting our energy output,” Young said. “What the current administration did on Day One. They opened the border and restricted energy output by not renewing leases and canceling pipelines.”
Those actions are helping to fuel inflation, he said.
“It’s one of the biggest drivers of inflation and increases in the cost of living,” said Young. “It’s unsustainable, particularly for lower and middle-class people living paycheck to paycheck.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said the border is secure. “You know that is not true,” said Young.
He said Houlahan voted against House Bill 2, which could have secured the border. It would have reinstituted the remain-in-Mexico policy, among other provisions. She also voted against six other border security bills [Res 1065, HR 7511, 957, 5283, 5525 and Res. 461], Young said.
Young said Houlahan’s votes are “against American energy independence are votes against national security.”
On April 4, 2023, Houlahan voted against keeping Title IX for girls in sports [HR724]. That law protects girls in education and sports. Still, the Biden-Harris administration has changed the law to force students to use certain pronouns, affirm queer theory, and not allow sex-segregated spaces. Moms for Liberty obtained an injunction to stop the changes in schools their children attend.
Guy Ciarracchi, a political commentator, ran against Houlahan in 2022.
“Critics focus on Neil being a first-time candidate—what he doesn’t know. But what Neil Young does know as a history teacher, wrestling coach, and dad is that America is in trouble because Democrat politicians are making bad decisions. What he knows is that we might be the generation that leaves our children worse off. And, he has commonsense solutions to make things better.”
Young grew up in Coatesville and Downingtown. He went to college at West Chester University.
“Everything good in my life happened here in Chester County,” said Young.
His wife, Jill, teaches art at High Point Baptist Academy in Berkes County, where their two youngest children, 13 and 11, are students. His oldest son is 20 and attends Williamson College of Trade in Media. His second son is 19 and at Liberty University.
“My wife and I struggled for a while with infertility,” said Young. “Our first child was born through IVF [in vitro fertilization]. We adopted our second child from Ethiopia. Then our younger two came naturally, and we decided long ago that we’re going to have however many we have, and we’re going to care for them.”
Young traveled repeatedly to Afghanistan to train teachers there how to teach. More teachers were needed to teach “the large influx of girls.”
“There was tremendous progress being made,” he said. Then, the Biden-Harris administration decided to withdraw.
“We didn’t break Afghanistan,” Young said. “We didn’t go in to colonize or take over. I think that’s what makes the United States unique. We went to help people and we stuck around and poured money into the economy of Afghanistan.”
“For me, it’s more personal and more tragic to see [what happened] because of political expediency,” he said. “We put a lot of lives at risk. I think it’s important that our politicians know that.”
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