Leon Young (Wisconsin politician)

For the mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado, see Leon Young (mayor).

Leon D. Young (born July 4, 1967) is a police officer and former Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 16th Assembly District from 1992 until 2018.

Leon Young
Young in 2009
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 16th district
In office January 4, 1993 – January 7, 2019
Preceded by	G. Spencer Coggs
Succeeded by	Kalan Haywood
Personal details
Born	(1967-07-04) July 4, 1967 (age 58) Los Angeles, California
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Occupation	former police officer

Political career

Young speaking at a 2009 press conference

In 1992, his aunt, incumbent Marcia P. Coggs (18th District), waited until just hours before the deadline for filing nomination papers to announce her retirement. Only one potential competitor had time to file nomination papers, since no challengers had planned to file against Coggs for the Democratic nomination (tantamount to election in this heavily-African-American, reliably Democratic district).^[1] (Wisconsin's statutes have been changed to prevent such a surprise being repeated.^[2]) Young was elected to his aunt's seat and has been re-elected ever since.

In 2018, Young announced that he was retiring from politics, and that he intended to resume working as a police officer.^[3]