William John Knotwell III (born January 24, 1978) is an American politician. He was a

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 ...

member of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district conta ...

representing District 52 from January 1, 2013 to October 26, 2019. The district includes Herriman, western Riverton, southwest South Jordan in the State of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. Born to American parents in Subic Bay,

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, Knotwell spent most of his childhood in Southern California, near San Diego. Knotwell's father was a career

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

sailor who spent half his career as an enlisted sailor and half as a Commissioned

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

Early life and education

Knotwell graduated from

Poway High School Poway High School is a four-year secondary school in southern California accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Established in 1961, its approximately 2,408 students are from the city of Poway and the community of Rancho Be ...

in Poway, California. He attended California State University, Northridge for one year. In December 1997, Knotwell moved to Utah and enrolled as a summer visiting student at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to be accepted full-time and later enrolled at

Utah Valley State College Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July 2008. History ...

. Knotwell earned his Associate of Science in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University), a Bachelor of Science in

with a minor in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, and a

Masters in Business Administration 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 accoun ...

from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...

Career

During the 2010 Utah Republican neighborhood caucus, Knotwell was elected to serve as precinct chair, county delegate, and state delegate. He participated in the state and county party conventions and served his term until 2012. In 2011, Knotwell ran for the Herriman City Council to represent District 1. He was unsuccessful in unseating incumbent city councilman Matt Robinson. In March 2012, Knotwell announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for Utah House of Representatives. Following the

2010 United States census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, the seat was occupied by Daniel McCay was redistricted and became an open seat. Four candidates sought the nomination and Knotwell won on the first ballot with 76% of the vote. In the November 2012 general election he won the popular vote and was designated representative-elect until taking office on January 1, 2013.

Utah State House of Representatives

60th Utah State Legislature (2013–2014)

* Committee Assignments ** Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Committee, Member ** House Revenue & Taxation Standing Committee, Member ** House Transportation Committee, Member ** Public Utilities & Technology Interim Committee, Member

61st Utah State Legislature (2015–2016)

* Committee Assignments ** House Business & Labor Standing Committee, Vice Chair ** House Rules Committee, Vice Chair ** Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Committee, Member ** House Revenue & Taxation Standing Committee, Member ** IT Steering Committee, Member

62nd Utah State Legislature (2017–2018)

Representative Knotwell was elected to serve as the majority assistant whip during the 62nd Utah State Legislature. In this capacity, he assists other members of the majority elected leadership to craft the state budget, negotiate priorities among the Utah Senate and governor's office and secure votes among the Utah House of Representatives. * Committee Assignments ** Executive Appropriations, Member ** House Business & Labor Standing Committee, Member ** House Transportation Standing Committee, Member ** IT Steering Committee, Member

Personal life

Knotwell lives in

Herriman, Utah Herriman ( ) is a city in southwestern Salt Lake County, Utah. The population was 55,144 as of the 2020 census. Although Herriman was a town in 2000, it has since been classified as a fourth-class city by state law. The city has experienced rapi ...

and works as senior vice president of global sales at Nuvi. Knotwell and his wife, Jill, have five children.

Electoral history

2012 election

2014 election

2016 election

References

External links

Official page
at the

Utah State Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term li ...

Campaign siteJohn Knotwell
at Ballotpedia
John Knotwell
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knotwell, John Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives People from Herriman, Utah University of Utah alumni Utah Valley University alumni 21st-century American politicians 1978 births