Steve Knight

Stephen Thomas Knight (born December 17, 1966) is an American politician, military veteran and former police officer.

Knight was born at Edwards Air Force Base in Antelope Valley, California, in 1966.

Knight served in the U.S. Army from 1985 to 1993 and 18 years with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

After graduating from Palmdale High School, he served in the U.S. Army (1985–87) as a tracked vehicle systems mechanic in Friedberg, Germany.

When his tour ended, he served in the Army Reserve until 1993.

He was first elected to the Palmdale City Council in 2005.

In 2006, Knight received an Associate of Arts (AA) from Antelope Valley College.

Knight served for 18 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he was selected to serve on the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) team.

He served on the Palmdale City Council and represented the north Los Angeles County area in both the California State Assembly and the California State Senate.

Knight was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2008, succeeding Sharon Runner.

From 2010 to 2012, he was the Assistant Minority Leader of the California State Assembly.

Knight previously represented California's 21st State Senate district from 2012 to 2015 and California's 36th State Assembly district from 2008 through 2012; he also served as Assistant Minority Leader in the California State Assembly from 2010 until 2012.

He was elected to the California State Senate in 2012, in which he represented the 21st District until 2014.

His father, the late William J. "Pete" Knight, served as Republican state senator in the Antelope Valley.

Knight's brother David is gay, and he had a gay paternal uncle who died of AIDS.

In the State Assembly, Knight was Vice Chairman of the Natural Resources and Public Safety Committee and served on the Aerospace; Local Government; Utilities and Commerce; and Rules Committees.

In September 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill introduced by Knight that aimed to protect California's disabled veterans by fixing an issue with property tax exemptions.

Knight focused his 2014 campaign on jobs and education.

The Los Angeles Daily News endorsed Knight in the 2014 primary election.

Due to California's blanket primary system, Knight faced fellow Republican Tony Strickland in the November 4, 2014, general election.

Knight defeated Strickland with 53% of the vote.

A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. representative for California's 25th congressional district from 2015 to 2019.

In April 2015, Knight had a verbal altercation with a protester.

After the protester made physical contact by forcefully gripping Knight's hand and patting him on the shoulder, Knight told him, "I'll drop your ass", but later apologized.

The Aliso Canyon Gas Leak from an underground natural gas storage facility owned by the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), a subsidiary of Sempra Energy occurred in Knight's district and became public in October 2015.

Knight was criticized by some constituents for his reaction to the leak.

Knight said in December 2015 that he was confident that SoCalGas was “working on this as diligently as they can.”

In May 2015, the National Republican Congressional Committee named Knight to its Patriot Program.

The program gives added attention by the party to reelection campaigns in districts most likely to switch to Democratic representation in upcoming elections.

He did not visit the Porter Ranch gas leak site until January 8, 2016, saying that he did not want to politicize the problem.

Knight declined to co-sign a request for an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with Representative Brad Sherman of the neighboring Congressional district.

He wrote in an op-ed that EPA involvement would "hinder the ongoing process".

In June 2016, analyst David Wasserman moved Knight's district into the "toss-up" category, due to the negative influence of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on down-ticket races and the growth in Democratic voter registration in the 25th Congressional District.

In addition to Knight, two Democrats and one other Republican filed to run in the district's blanket primary, which took place on June 7, 2016.

Knight and Democrat Bryan Caforio advanced to the general election.

Knight was endorsed by the Los Angeles Daily News.

He was also endorsed by Lou Vince, an L.A. police lieutenant and Democrat who finished third (behind Knight and Bryan Caforio) in the 25th district's June 2016 primary.

In October 2016, the Ventura County Star endorsed Knight's re-election, praising his "record of service to the residents" and saying that he "showed in his first term that generally he continues to tackle issues of local concern, provide local constituent services and represents the values of the majority of voters in that district."

He lost his reelection bid in 2018 to Democrat Katie Hill.

After Hill resigned the following year, he ran in the 2020 special election to complete her term, as well as the concurrent election for the next term, but he did not advance past the primary in either election.