Jim Knoblach (born November 5, 1957) is an American politician and former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint ...

. A member of the

Republican Party of Minnesota The Republican Party of Minnesota is the oldest active political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Republican Party’s platform is relatively moderate. The party’s main issues are economic growth, education, healthcare, civi ...

, he represented District 14B in central

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Early life and education

Knoblach was born and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He attended local public schools and graduated from Apollo High School in 1976. He attended St. Cloud State University and Saint John's University, graduating in 1979 with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in economics and business administration. He also obtained a Certified Public Accountant license in 1979. He was then accepted at Harvard Business School, where he graduated with a

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

in 1981. He later attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, graduating with a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in American government in 1987, and also interned with U.S. Senator

Dave Durenberger David Ferdinand Durenberger (born August 19, 1934) is a retired American politician and attorney. Durenberger represented Minnesota in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1978 to 1995. He left the Republican Party in 2005 and has become ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

Knoblach was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1994 and served until early 2007 after declining to run in the 2006 election. During his years in office Knoblach chaired the House Capital Investment Committee for two terms (1999-2002) and the House Ways and Means Committee for two terms (2003–06). Knoblach also chaired the House Republican Election Committee from 1997 to 2001. Knoblach was also an Assistant Majority Leader from 1998-2002. In 2006, Knoblach ran for the Republican nomination for

Minnesota's 6th congressional district Minnesota's 6th congressional district includes most or all of Benton, Carver, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright, Anoka, and Washington counties. Many of the Twin Cities' northern and northwestern suburbs are included within the boundaries of t ...

and sought the party endorsement, but came in second of four to

Michele Bachmann Michele Marie Bachmann (; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, who was then elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

later that year. In 2014, Knoblach ran for State Representative in a different, more Democratic-leaning district, and narrowly defeated incumbent Zach Dorholt of District 14B, in what was then the most expensive State Representative race in Minnesota history. Knoblach was then named to again chair the House Ways and Means Committee.

Allegations

In September 2018, Knoblach dropped his reelection bid after

MPR News Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest. MPR ha ...

reported that his daughter Laura alleged he had touched her inappropriately between the ages of 9 and 21. In an interview, Knoblach's attorney denied the allegations. A 2017 investigation of the allegations by local law enforcement resulted in no charges. St. Cloud police officer Trent Fischer stated that Knoblach's actions were "really inappropriate but not criminal" as Knoblach did not expose himself or touch his daughter under her clothes.

Personal life

Knoblach and his wife, Janet, married in 1988. They have two children and reside in St. Cloud. He serves on the St. Cloud Salvation Army Advisory Board, the Big Brothers Big Sisters Advisory Board, and is a member of the St. Cloud Rotary. He was previously a member of the St. John's University Board of Regents, the Board of the Saint Cloud Christian School, the Board of the Central Minnesota Council Boy Scouts of America, and several other boards.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knoblach, Jim 1957 births Living people Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Harvard Business School alumni 21st-century American politicians College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni Georgetown University alumni 20th-century American politicians Candidates in the 2006 United States elections