Former House Leader challenges Senator Telfer in Primary

Former House Leader challenges Senator Telfer in Primary
From Tim Knopp for Senate Campaign:

Former Oregon House Majority Leader and three-term State Representative, Tim Knopp, announced he is filing to run for State Senator, District 27. Knopp, a lifelong Reagan conservative, has been credited for landmark legislation protecting taxpayers, supporting small businesses and reforming PERS, the Public Employee Retirement System.

Knopp said he felt compelled to run, referring to Ronald Reagan’s quote “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”

Knopp said that he sees the 2012 election as a time for choosing between two paths, one of freedom and limited government or of insurmountable government debt and control over every aspect of our lives. “We need a candidate that can not only articulate the message of freedom and limited government, but provide the leadership to help create jobs, and pass effective legislation that will help create jobs for all Oregonians seeking them. I’m committed to doing all that can be done, and I have a record of success from my legislative service on behalf of Central Oregonians,” said Knopp.

“When I left the legislature in 2005, unemployment was near 6 percent, we had protected the kicker by putting it in the Constitution where in 2007 it returned 1 billion dollars belonging to taxpayer’s. I was confident I had left the State of Oregon better than I had found it.”

Today unemployment has been running near 12 percent or more for the last 4 years and the legislature has stalled on critical jobs legislation, new PERS reforms and efforts to protect seniors and veterans. Knopp said he believes Oregon needs the kind of leadership he’s provided in the past and is committed to for the future.

Knopp is a native Oregonian who has lived in Central Oregon for nearly 35 years. He and his wife, Melissa, have been married for over 25 years and have 4 children; Reagan, Emilie, Daniel and Grace. Knopp is a past Chairman of the Deschutes County Republican Central Committee in 1995 and 2010. Knopp’s background includes nearly 20 years as a small business owner. His community service includes being a little league coach, former board member of the Bend Chamber of Commerce and current board member of affordable housing non-profit, First Story. He is the Executive Vice President of the Central Oregon Builders Association and is the Executive Director of Building Partners for Affordable Housing.