Thanks, Jordan. I looked that plant up and it does seem similar - but I'm not sure. Maybe this picture will make it easier for you. The other thing is - and the reason it has me leaning on pulling it is that nothing seems to have any interest in it. If it has no value for wildlife and it looks ugly - out it goes - unless someone says - yes, it's beneficial. :-) Thx again!

If it is one of the milkweeds (Asclepias), it will have white latex sap inside. If you remove a leaf and find that sap, that would fit with Asclepias. I'm not sure what it is.

Thanks, Tiffany. No sap - it's gone. (I used your test on my purchased milkweed: yep - white sap dripped out). The flowers were blooming and were quite pretty; but too big, too gangly. I thought I would be able to just pull it out, but the 'trunk' was very thick - had to use loppers and will have to shovel it out.

Understood. It does look more like Vernonia, but checking for white sap is an easy way to rule-out Asclepias.