Laura Knaperek (July 12, 1955 – March 3, 2016) was an American

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician and public official from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. She was first elected to the Arizona state House of Representatives in 1994. She compiled a conservative record while taking an avid interest in youth and family issues. In 2002, she ran for the state Senate, but lost the general election to Democrat

Harry Mitchell Harry Everett Mitchell (born July 18, 1940) is an American politician and educator who served as a U.S. Representative representing from 2007 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life, education and career Born and raised ...

. In 2004, she made a comeback, returning to the state House of Representatives, but was defeated for reelection in 2006. While out of office, she became Executive Director of

United Families International United Families International (UFI) is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1978 by Susan Roylance. UFI works on an international scale to influence public policy toward "maintaining and strengthening the family". UFI has NGO status w ...

, a conservative advocacy group. She sought election to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 2008 but lost to

David Schweikert David S. Schweikert (; born March 3, 1962) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2023 and since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he first entered Congress in 2011, representing ...

in the primary election.

Biography

Knaperek was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, on July 12, 1955. She and her husband moved to Arizona in 1979. Knaperek was first elected to the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Senate. The House convenes in the legislative chambers at the Arizona State C ...

in 1994 and was a

. She served previously as a school board member for

Kyrene School District Kyrene School District is a K-8 school district that serves parts of Tempe, Chandler, Guadalupe, and Phoenix, Arizona, as well as portions of the Gila River Indian Community within Maricopa County. Kyrene School District operates a total of 26 ...

and worked as the Executive Director for the Arizona Consortium for Children with Chronic Illness. Knaperek served for 10 years in the House where she chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee as well as the Higher Education Committee. She worked on health care, human services and education. After being term limited out of office in 2002, Knaperek ran against incumbent

as an alternative to his liberal voting record. Knaperek went to work as a columnist for the ''

East Valley Tribune The ''East Valley Tribune'' is a newspaper concentrated on cities within the East Valley region of metropolitan Phoenix, including Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek. Formerly a daily newspaper, the ''Tribune'' resulted from the ...

'' and was recruited to run again in 2004 to take back her former Republican seat. She served for two more years and was voted out due to voter displeasure with Republicans in Congress, the Presidency and the war on terror in Iraq. She then worked on family issues as the Executive Director of United Families International and ran for Congress to regain the seat from Harry Mitchell.

won the primary election in 2008 and ultimately lost to Harry Mitchell in the general election. Knaperek later used her experience and expertise as a political consultant.

Personal life

Knaperek was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and left behind six children. She died from ovarian cancer on March 3, 2016, aged 60, in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

.Former Tempe lawmaker Laura Knaperek dies after battle with cancer
azcentral.com; accessed March 4, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knaperek, Laura 1955 births 2016 deaths Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Tempe, Arizona Latter Day Saints from Illinois School board members in Arizona Republican Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Women state legislators in Arizona Deaths from ovarian cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Arizona Candidates in the 2008 United States elections 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians Latter Day Saints from Arizona 21st-century Arizona politicians