David Knezek wins State Representative primary

BY KRISTEN GOLEMBIEWSKI, Opinions Editor

Former UM-Dearborn student and two-tour Iraq War veteran David Knezek won the primary for the 11th District’s State Representative race Tuesday evening.

Knezek beat opponents Cody Bailey, Dorothy Grady, and Bill Kaledas and will now face Republican Kathleen Kopczyk in November’s General Election.

“We started this whole process December 5, 2011, and I was still Student Government President over at UM-Dearborn, just a college kid trying to finish up a degree,” Knezek said to guests at his election night party. “Eight months later, here we are. It started with a young group of kids. We reached out to some tried and true representatives that knew the ropes; they told us what we needed to do to be successful. And we went out and did it on our own. I could not be more thankful for our team.”

https://twitter.com/VoteKnezek/status/232988451111329792

Assisted by a volunteer team of over 65 individuals, all under the age of 29, Knezek focused on a grassroots campaign that included countless hours of knocking on doors in Dearborn Heights, Garden City, Inkster, Livonia, and Westland. In total, Team Knezek knocked on 20,792 doors.

His campaign received over 35 endorsements, including the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, Police Officers Association of Michigan, Michigan AFL-CIO, and local State Representatives Richard LeBlanc (D-Westland) and George Darany (D-Dearborn).

“Tomorrow we’ll get back to work,” he said at his election night party. “But tonight, let’s have a damn good time.”

For more information on David Knezek and his platform, visit www.VoteKnezek.com.