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David Knezek

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David Knezek
Image of David Knezek
Wayne County Commission District 8
Tenure

2020 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

5

Predecessor
Prior offices
Michigan House of Representatives District 11
Successor: Julie Plawecki
Predecessor: David Nathan

Michigan State Senate District 5
Predecessor: Tupac Hunter

Compensation

Base salary

$71,685/year

Per diem

$10,800 yearly expense allowance

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Appointed

February 6, 2020

Education

High school

Crestwood High School, 2004

Bachelor's

University of Michigan, Dearborn, 2012

Contact

David Knezek (Democratic Party) is a member of the Wayne County Commission in Michigan, representing District 8. Knezek assumed office on February 14, 2020. Knezek's current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Knezek (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Wayne County Commission to represent District 8 in Michigan. Knezek won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Wayne County, Michigan (2024)

General election

General election for Wayne County Commission District 8

Incumbent David Knezek defeated Marc Joseph Sosnowski in the general election for Wayne County Commission District 8 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David Knezek
David Knezek (D)
 
73.7
 
27,906
Image of Marc Joseph Sosnowski
Marc Joseph Sosnowski (U.S. Taxpayers Party) Candidate Connection
 
23.0
 
8,717
 Other/Write-in votes
 
3.2
 
1,219

Total votes: 37,842
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wayne County Commission District 8

Incumbent David Knezek advanced from the Democratic primary for Wayne County Commission District 8 on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David Knezek
David Knezek
 
99.2
 
7,194
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.8
 
61

Total votes: 7,255
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Knezek in this election.

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Wayne County, Michigan (2022)

General election

General election for Wayne County Commission District 8

Incumbent David Knezek defeated William Collop Jr. in the general election for Wayne County Commission District 8 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David Knezek
David Knezek (D)
 
65.8
 
22,209
William Collop Jr. (R)
 
33.7
 
11,360
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.5
 
170

Total votes: 33,739
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wayne County Commission District 8

Incumbent David Knezek advanced from the Democratic primary for Wayne County Commission District 8 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David Knezek
David Knezek
 
98.8
 
7,995
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.2
 
100

Total votes: 8,095
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wayne County Commission District 8

William Collop Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for Wayne County Commission District 8 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
William Collop Jr.
 
99.0
 
3,930
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.0
 
40

Total votes: 3,970
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Municipal elections in Wayne County, Michigan (2020)

General election

General election for Wayne County Commission District 8

Incumbent David Knezek defeated Marc Joseph Sosnowski in the general election for Wayne County Commission District 8 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David Knezek
David Knezek (D)
 
82.6
 
40,422
Image of Marc Joseph Sosnowski
Marc Joseph Sosnowski (U.S. Taxpayers Party)
 
16.1
 
7,861
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.4
 
674

Total votes: 48,957
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wayne County Commission District 8

Incumbent David Knezek defeated Nena Fawaz in the Democratic primary for Wayne County Commission District 8 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David Knezek
David Knezek
 
62.1
 
10,755
Nena Fawaz
 
37.2
 
6,431
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.7
 
120

Total votes: 17,306
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Michigan State Senate District 5

Betty Jean Alexander defeated DeShawn Wilkins and Larry Betts in the general election for Michigan State Senate District 5 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Betty Jean Alexander
Betty Jean Alexander (D)
 
77.4
 
70,010
Image of DeShawn Wilkins
DeShawn Wilkins (R)
 
18.2
 
16,479
Image of Larry Betts
Larry Betts (Working Class Party)
 
4.4
 
3,944

Total votes: 90,433
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan State Senate District 5

Betty Jean Alexander defeated incumbent David Knezek in the Democratic primary for Michigan State Senate District 5 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Betty Jean Alexander
Betty Jean Alexander
 
54.5
 
18,928
Image of David Knezek
David Knezek
 
45.5
 
15,803

Total votes: 34,731
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan State Senate District 5

DeShawn Wilkins advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan State Senate District 5 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of DeShawn Wilkins
DeShawn Wilkins
 
100.0
 
4,944

Total votes: 4,944
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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2014

See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Michigan State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election took place on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 22, 2014. David Knezek defeated five other candidates in the Democratic primary. Jennifer Rynicki was unopposed in the Republican primary. Knezek defeated Rynicki in the general election. Incumbent Tupac Hunter (D) did not seek re-election due to term limits.[1][2][3][4]

Michigan State Senate, District 5 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Knezek 81.8% 59,680
     Republican Jennifer Rynicki 18.2% 13,286
Total Votes 72,966
Michigan State Senate, District 5 Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Knezek 32.2% 8,470
Shanelle Jackson 24% 6,317
David Nathan 21% 5,526
Thomas Stallworth III 16.3% 4,301
Carrie O'Connor 4.5% 1,189
Frank Tomcsik 1.9% 507
Total Votes 26,310

2012

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2012

Knezek won election in the 2012 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 11. He defeated Dorothy Webb Grady, Bill Kaledas and Cody Bailey in the August 7 Democratic primary and defeated Kathleen Kopczyk (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[5][6]

Michigan House of Representatives, District 11, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Knezek Incumbent 71.8% 27,626
     Republican Kathleen Kopczyk 28.2% 10,875
Total Votes 38,501
Michigan House of Representatives, District 11 Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Knezek 50.2% 3,804
Cody Bailey 20.7% 1,567
Dorothy Webb Grady 20.4% 1,549
Bill Kaledas 8.8% 664
Total Votes 7,584

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

David Knezek did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

David Knezek did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

David Knezek did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2012

Knezek's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[7]

Public Education

  • Excerpt: "We can’t succeed as a state unless every Michigan student has access to a world-class education. That means providing our teachers and support staff with the necessary resources to instruct and teach our students the necessary skills to succeed in the 21st century economy."

Senior Citizens

  • Excerpt: "As State Representative, I’ll work to repeal the pension tax and ensure that their service and dedication to this state is rewarded, not punished."

Jobs & Economy

  • Excerpt: "As State Representative, I’ll fight to bring an immediate end to the corporate cronyism that drastically undercuts the potential for serious job creation."

Public Safety

  • Excerpt: "As State Representative, I’ll work with local and state police and fire officials to create a temporary Michigan Public Safety Task Force to investigate the funding challenges that our police and fire heroes face every day and offer comprehensive solutions to this challenge."

Environment

  • Excerpt: "Being able to enjoy these natural treasures is the birthright of every person born in Michigan. I will fight to make sure that future generations of Michiganders will be able to enjoy these opportunities, just as I have."

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


David Knezek campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2014Michigan State Senate, District 5Won $132,702 N/A**
2012Michigan State House, District 11Won $68,996 N/A**
Grand total$201,698 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

State legislative tenure

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Michigan

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Michigan scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.








2018

In 2018, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 10 through December 31.

Legislators and candidates are scored on their economy policy views.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
Legislators are scored on a number of bills selected by the editor of MIRS, a state capitol newsletter.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to conservative issues.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on small business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2017


2016


2015



The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Committee assignments

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Michigan committee assignments, 2017
Appropriations
• Energy and Technology
Health Policy
Veterans, Military Affairs and Homeland Security

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Knezek served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Knezek served on the following committees:

Michigan committee assignments, 2012
Education
Health Policy

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Diane Webb (D)
Wayne County Commission District 8
2020-Present
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
Tupac Hunter (D)
Michigan State Senate District 5
2015-2019
Succeeded by
Betty Jean Alexander (D)
Preceded by
David Nathan
Michigan House of Representatives District 11
2013-2015
Succeeded by
Julie Plawecki (D)