Young was a close friend of realtor and conservationist Duncan McDuffie, and worked for Mason-McDuffie, a real estate general partnership based in Berkeley.

He also helped McDuffie, who had served as president of the Save the Redwoods League and Sierra Club, establish the State Parks system upon his election as governor.

His flirtation with the party lasted for a single term before its dissolution in 1916 and he quickly returned to Republican ranks, though he remained sympathetic to the Progressive movement for much of the rest of his political career.

[5] In the 1926 general election campaign, Young earned vocal support from former governor Hiram Johnson and prominent banker Amadeo Giannini.

Young won in a landslide, garnering 71.3 percent of the vote and crushing his rivals, who included Democrat Justus S. Wardell and Socialist author Upton Sinclair.

"Some system like this would, I believe, be far more businesslike and effective than such haphazard and infrequent consultations as must otherwise normally take place between a Governor and our numerous unrelated boards and commissions," Young said.

In late June 1927, Young personally intervened for Charlotte Anita Whitney, a member of the Communist Party of the United States, who had been convicted under the 1919 Criminal Syndicalism Act passed under Governor William Stephens.

In 1919, Whitney had been arrested in Oakland after defying civic authorities in making a speech in behalf of John McHugh, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World.

The anti-syndicalism law used to prosecute her had recently been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court which held that threats of violence against the state and individuals did not constitute free speech and was not protected by the First Amendment.

Young added that the law under which she was convicted was undoubtedly constitutional, but that "abnormal conditions attending the trial" greatly influenced the jury and that "under ordinary circumstances" the case never would have been prosecuted.

Young responded by mobilizing the California Army National Guard, ordering commanders to encircle the prison with their units, supported by heavy machine guns and two tanks shipped by train from Salinas.

Young Hails Greater Talkie Season, appealing to early talking picture audiences to attend family-friendly movies and to ignore films that depicted negative images of society.