Austin Knudsen

Austin Knudsen is a Republican former member of the Montana House of Representatives. He was elected to House District 36[1] which represents the Culbertson area.

Austin Knudsen
53rd Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives
In office
January 5, 2015 – January 7, 2019
Preceded byMark Blasdel
Succeeded byGreg Hertz
Member of the Montana House of Representatives
from the 34th district
In office
2010–2018
Preceded byJulie French
Succeeded byRhonda Knudsen
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
EducationMontana State University, Bozeman (BA)
University of Montana, Missoula (JD)

Knudsen served as Speaker of the House.[2]

Issues

Immigration

In a 2016 op-ed in The Montana Standard, Knudsen expressed opposition to President Obama allowing Syrian refugees to come to the United States. He wrote, "As we speak, President Obama is relocating tens of thousands of Syrian and other Muslim country refugees into our country. These people are not following the same legal immigration process that my great-grandfather -- and I’m guessing many of your ancestors -- did. They are being unfairly moved to the front of the line, given privileged status, and being placed in our heartland at a record rate. There are no requirements that these refugees take courses in U.S. history, civics, or English, as is required of foreigners seeking U.S. citizenship today."[3]

Legislation

In 2017, Knudsen authored a number of pieces of legislation. He introduced bills to:[4]

Electoral history
Montana’s 36th District House of Representatives election, 2016[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Austin Knudsen 4,278 77.49
Democratic Evelyn Carlisle 1,243 22.51
Total votes 5,521 100

Personal life and family

Knudsen is of Danish descent. In 1914, Knudsen's great-grandfather Hartvig Knudsen immigrated to the United States from Denmark when he was 17 years old. In 1917, he enlisted in the Army and served in World War I.[3]

References
  1. Montana Legislature. "Knudsen, Austin". Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  2. "Montana Legislature: House of Representatives". leg.mt.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-10-05. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  3. Knudsen, Austin (2016-06-18). "Greg Gianforte right on immigration issue". Montana Standard. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  4. "Austin Knudsen - Ballotpedia". Retrieved 2017-10-04.
Political offices
Preceded by
Mark Blasdel		 Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives
2015–2019		 Succeeded by
Greg Hertz
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