Born in 1962 on a LaFayette dairy farm, David Knapp spent his time outside of school milking cows, baling hay and harvesting corn growing up. Knapp’s older brother and sister generally got first pick when it came to farm chores, he said.

“I was kind of the designated manure spreader,” Knapp said. “The youngest always gets that.”

His upbringing taught him the value of hard work and civic engagement, Knapp said. He has represented Onondaga County’s 12th district since 2012 and is described by friends and rivals alike as a hard-working legislator with deep roots in the town of LaFayette, about 10 miles south of Syracuse. The community leader will now use his farm-grown values, hometown roots and experience in local politics as chairman of the Onondaga County Legislature, where he’ll work to improve local legislative and executive office relationships.

Knapp was unanimously chosen to replace Ryan McMahon as chairman on Oct. 9. Knapp said he tries to work across the aisle, citing his unanimous election to the chairmanship as evidence of his bipartisan appeal.

Bruce Donohue, who chairs the town of LaFayette’s Democratic Committee, said Knapp is a “very reasonable guy” who he hopes will have a moderating influence on the Republicans in the county legislature.

“My only complaint is he’s a Republican,” Donohue said. “To me, he’s too much of a good guy to be in the Republican party.”

As chairman, Knapp said he hopes to work with McMahon to improve the legislature’s relationship with the county executive’s office and cut back on some of the political in-fighting he said he’s seen over the past several years. He added that the biggest changes from McMahon’s tenure will most likely be “style differences,” and said he doesn’t anticipate making any major committee reassignments.

“I’m a big ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ kind of guy,” Knapp said.

Knapp, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, returned to his hometown after completing his military service. Family ties were what drew him back to central New York, his mother Bettye said. Knapp’s sister, Deborah, died of breast cancer nine years ago, and Knapp’s father Malcolm died in 2013, which Bettye said was “very hard on him.”

Knapp and his children take care of Bettye, now 85, who lives alone.

“He’s been here already, and brought me some newspapers, and a breakfast pizza,” Bettye said. “He’s thoughtful. He does things like that.”

Talia Trackim | Senior Design Editor

Malcolm was a town judge and Bettye taught kindergarten at the local public school for more than 40 years. Knapp was a three-sport athlete in high school who played football, basketball and lacrosse. Lacrosse provided Knapp with some of his best memories and best friends, and also helped him attend college for free — he played goalie at West Point.

West Point cadets were purposefully given more work than they could handle to test their abilities under pressure, Knapp said, adding that it felt like “drinking through a fire hose.” Knapp eventually had to quit playing lacrosse to focus on his academics, which were much more rigorous than what he was used to.

West Point reinforced the work ethic Knapp said learned from his childhood on the farm. The military service gave him an opportunity to explore the world beyond his rural Onondaga County hometown.

After graduating in 1984, Knapp completed officer basic training at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, then moved to Fort Lewis, just outside of Tacoma, Washington. There, he met his wife Donna and the two got married in Seattle in 1986.

By 1989, Knapp said he and Donna felt it was time to settle down and start a family. Once he finished military service, Knapp got a job in the diagnostics manufacturing industry and moved back to LaFayette. He and Donna have three children ages 25, 23 and 20.

Since returning home, Knapp’s friends and neighbors said he has become an integral part of the local community.

“I don’t know if there’s anybody in town that doesn’t know Dave Knapp,” said Michael LaCava, who’s been friends with Knapp for more than 20 years.

Knapp has always been motivated by a desire to serve his community, LaCava added.

“He’s really selfless, and he doesn’t flaunt it, which is what I love about him.”

Talia Trackim | Senior Design Editor

One of Knapp’s biggest projects as a community leader is the annual LaFayette Apple Festival. Over four decades in the running, the festival regularly draws 90,000 visitors over three days to the town of 5,000, according to its website. The festival, which Knapp organizes, is a fundraiser for local nonprofits including the Presbyterian and Catholic churches and the Boy Scouts troop.

Since 1999, when he was elected to the LaFayette Town Council, Knapp has channeled his local popularity into political support. In 2011, he ran for county legislature and won, defeating Democrat Philip Benedict by 1,400 votes, according to Syracuse University’s DemocracyWise website.

Benedict, who teaches women’s self-defense and coaches boxing at SU, said he admires Knapp, whose family Benedict has known since he was a child. Benedict said the Democratic Party had approached him to run against Knapp again, but he refused.

“It was my honor to run against him, and it was my honor to tell my party to stick it, that I wasn’t going to run against him, because you have a good person, you have a good candidate, you have a good representative,” Benedict said. “There’s no reason to do anything else. Don’t upset the apple cart.”

Published on November 12, 2018 at 9:31 pm

Contact Madeleine: mdavison@syr.edu