Marty Knollenberg

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Martin (Marty) Knollenberg (born September 21, 1963) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He is a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives, representing the 41st District which covers the cities of Troy and Clawson in Oakland County. He is the son of U.S. Congressman Joe Knollenberg, who represents Michigan's 9th congressional district.

Knollenberg was elected to the State House in 2006. He had previously served as an Oakland County Commissioner from 2002 to 2004 and Oakland County Parks and Recreation commissioner from 2004 to 2006.

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[edit] 2006 election

In the August 2006 primary, Knollenberg faced Clawson School Board Trustee and attorney Mike Bosnic. Knollenberg won by a 53.5-46.5% margin. The contest was labeled by Michigan Information & Research Service (MIRS), a Lansing-insider political publication, as the fourth most interesting primary in Michigan. [1]

Knollenberg defeated Democratic college student Eric Gregory in the November general election by a 58-42% margin. Knollenberg was one of few Republicans to garner a greater percentage of votes in his 2006 general election than he or his predecessor did in 2004, overcoming the largely anti-Republican sentiment of the election.

[edit] 2004 election

Knollenberg was also a candidate for election in the 2004 Republican primary for the 41st District House seat, being vacated by term-limited representative John Pappageorge. He faced former-State Representative Bob Gosselin who was running for his final term after leaving office in 2002 to run for state Senate, and upstart candidate Mike Bosnic.

Gosselin, who had built a reputation in the legislature as a conservative lawmaker who espoused family values, was the subject of Knollenberg's campaign mailings announcing a 1998 arrest in an undercover prostitution sting and a previous conviction where Gosselin had plead out.[2] The 1998 solicitng charges against Gosselin were dismissed.

Bosnic was also a subject of Knollenberg's literature. He was accused by Knollenberg of accepting an illegal $2,500 contribution from the Heroes of Public Education, which was then a new PAC subject to a smaller campaign contribution limit. Campaign finance reports later revealed that the Secretary of State required Bosnic to repay $2,000 dollars of the donations because it exceeded campaign limits. [1]

Despite Pappageorge's endorsement of Knollenberg and the charges against Gosselin, the August primary was won by Gosselin with 38% of the vote, with Knollenberg garnering 29% and Bosnic 28%.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ MIRS. MIRS Capitol Capsule, Friday, June 30, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
  2. ^ State House race heats up. www.theoaklandpress.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.

[edit] External links

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