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Regina Young

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Regina Young
Image of Regina Young

Democratic Party

Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185
Tenure

2020 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

4

Predecessor

Compensation

Base salary

$106,422.33/year

Per diem

$185/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Central Connecticut State University, 1996

Graduate

Eastern University, 2011

Personal
Birthplace
New Haven, Conn.
Religion
Christian
Profession
Community organizer
Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Regina Young (Democratic Party) is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing District 185. She assumed office on December 1, 2020. Her current term ends on November 30, 2026.

Young (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 185. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Regina Young earned an M.A. in community development from Eastern University. Young's career experience includes working as a community organizer.[1]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Young was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Young was assigned to the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185

Incumbent Regina Young won election in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Regina Young
Regina Young (D)
 
98.7
 
19,366
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.3
 
263

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2

Total votes: 19,629
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185

Incumbent Regina Young advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185 on April 23, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Regina Young
Regina Young
 
99.2
 
4,858
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.8
 
37

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,895
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Young in this election.

Pledges

Young signed the following pledges.

  • U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185

Incumbent Regina Young won election in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Regina Young
Regina Young (D)
 
100.0
 
14,122

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 14,122
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185

Incumbent Regina Young advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Regina Young
Regina Young
 
100.0
 
5,590

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 5,590
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

2020

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185

Regina Young won election in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Regina Young
Regina Young (D) Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
23,825

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 23,825
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185

Regina Young defeated incumbent Maria Donatucci in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185 on June 2, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Regina Young
Regina Young Candidate Connection
 
57.2
 
7,230
Image of Maria Donatucci
Maria Donatucci
 
42.8
 
5,402

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 12,632
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Regina Young did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Regina Young did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Conversations

Candidate Conversations is a virtual debate format that allows voters to easily get to know their candidates through a short video Q&A. Click below to watch the conversation for this race.

Candidate Connection

Regina Young completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Young's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a mother, wife, educator, organizer, coordinator, and Founder of Empowered Community Development Corporation with over 20 years of community-related experience. I am a proven leader who advocates for services and programs that empower communities. When families and communities thrive, so does the district. I became laser-focused on working to create a better existence while reminding my neighbors that they too have plenty to offer, regardless of their socio-economic status. Far too often, I watched how decisions were begin made about people, but the people were not included in the process so the efforts were not received well. I decided that having an inclusive approach worked best because it gives everyone a voice along with a responsibility to act. In this approach, I discovered that you get better government when you involve different voices.
  • I will continue to advocate for safer communities, including saying no to safe injection sites and providing resources to our undeserved and Immigrant community members
  • I will continue to demand that public education is improved so that all students can have viable resources.
  • Judicial Reform. Our system must address how we approach and respond to people in crisis and their patterns of decision making that afflicts on society
Education is my passion area as it relates to public policy. While pregnant, I had to start thinking about the educational journey for my child. The efforts and persistence I had to make to simply get my child into a quality program were overwhelming. I drove my children over 12 miles each weekday, for 6 years just so they can be educated in an environment that was satisfactory. I understood that I was not the only parent who sought to have quality education so I wanted to work within my community to help support and strengthen the neighborhood schools. I saw how state resources can help, but it was also an opportunity to remind myself along with community members that there is power at the community level as well. The strides that we were able to make were amazing. Until state and system-level resources are in place at our local public schools, I will continue to work to empower the community by gathering the skills, talents, and resources to support our youth. An educated and well-resourced community will lead to a community of economic value and pride.
I look up to my paternal grandparents. They were humbled quiet people who saw value in family and community. My grandfather built a home for his family, with his own hands. My grandparents had a garden where they grew their vegetables and they had chickens and hogs. Although they had 10 children of their own, they never turned down the opportunity to feed the community from their garden, nor shelter when needed. They were good people, who saw value in teaching their children the importance of treating each people, including each other with basic human decency and kindness. To this day, my father and his siblings continue to live out their parent's legacy. Everything starts with human connections. I would like to continue to focus on those basic values because it matters. If I can be a part of a system that allows room for people to have a voice and be empowered, then I strongly believe that we can grow as a society.
The three most important characteristics/principles for an elected official:

1- Passionate- To advocate for the people who what to represent, adequately, you need to be passionate about wanting to see the progression and having them feel supported and heard.
2-Integrity- To operate with a level of integrity that is also trustworthy. If the core of the person appears to be a concern, then their political agenda should be of concern.

3-Empathic listener- The moment that the politician can not connect with the people they want to serve, then problems occur.
I am an empathetic listener and a curious learner. I fully understand the feeling of being rejected because of how someone categorizes your background. Often times in the communities that I am seeking to serve, people are often looked over and told what will be given to them instead of including them in the conversation. It makes one feel unworthy, so I know how to recognize the faces in the crowd once such things occur. In my work, I have been known to have community members, parents and students hold dialogue with organizational and political leaders, simply because they never thought it was possible. We are connected through humanity and I want to have an inclusive administration that exhibits such.
President Reagan era. "Just Say No' campaign, late '80's, early '90's. My older set of siblings (from my mother's 1st marriage) were battling with addiction, in the most incredible way so watching the leadership of this country constantly say, "just say not" did not resonate in my community. There were no options to just say no, especially when resources and quality supports were not in place. Households, due to lack of employment and community supports for the youth caused a breakdown in families, especially in urban areas where people were underserved areas. I was transitioning from middle school to high school, where the breakdown in families was the norm. Drug use was the norm. I vividly remember walking to school, through a neighborhood park (which was my regular route) at 7:30 in the morning and people were passing needles and spoons with lighters over my head. On one particular day, I remember walking with my friend and saying that when I grow up, I wanted to help people see the strength that they already had in them. In hindsight, I guess I never gave thought to how much those words translated into my belief and then turned in to action.
My very first job was at a Pizza shop, Pizza Pal. I was 14 years old and I had it for about 6 months. I was paid to take orders over the phone and wait on customers. At the time, I was the only person in my family with a job. I was a freshman in high school and I did not really understand the value of money. Surrounded by a community of friends and family who made me feel like working was not "cool", I gave in to the pressure and quit. This was indeed a teachable moment because when I no longer had money, I quickly learned that I needed to embrace my inner voice when making decisions, even when it not a popular opinion among others. I have learned to align myself with people who were interested in creating options for themselves and others. I strongly believe that I began the journey that I am currently, at the age of 14.
Value In The Valley- Iyanla Vanzant. This book helped to transform my thinking and behavior towards myself and others. As a practicing Christian, in my young 20's I know what I was supposed to do, say and act, but I was missing the blueprint regarding the how. This book helped me with how I need to transform my thinking and behavior. I gave them out as gifts for years.
I am a Conqueror, - Estelle
I believe that it would be helpful for state legislators to have an understanding of how political influences impact communities at a local level. Far too often I observe how our politicians attend community functions, take what community members express and say, "okay, I'll take care of that" or "okay, I'll see what I can do". There are not too many who I witness, provide a dialogue about how these requests work. There is a clear disconnect from how politically-minded and community-minded people approach the work that is necessary at the state level. It is up to the legislator to interpret the requests to and from the community and fellow legislators.
Yes. Knowledge and information are power and before one can seek to change, we must first seek to understand. How can one understand without dialogue? It would not be difficult to identify the differences, however, the work comes in when we are seeking to identify common ground. Relationship building is especially important because amongst legislators because our interest should align with the interest of the community/district that we represent.
Yes. Working in my district for fifteen years, I've learned that I have so many similarities with parents, homeowners, shoppers, and organizers simply because we share desired outcomes; a viable healthy and thriving community. Although there is much diversity, I have yet to meet a parent who did not state that they want the best for their child, or be in a position to provide adequate options and opportunities for their family. I have yet to meet someone who does not want to feel safe while walking down the street or simply sitting on their porches. These are impactful situations because there are more people who can resonate with each other, than not.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Regina Young campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185Won general$117,371 $112,769
2022Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185Won general$70,689 $64,581
2020Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185Won general$39,287 N/A**
Grand total$227,346 $177,350
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Pennsylvania

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Pennsylvania scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


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External links

Candidate

Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185
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    Officeholder

    Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ PA House of Representatives, "Representative Regina G. Young," accessed April 10, 2021

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Maria Donatucci (D)     		Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 185
    2020-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -


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