Knutson to Lead Maine Democrats:

Ellsworth American - Aug. 16, 2007
Written by James Straub
BROOKLIN — Having headed the Hancock County Democratic Committee since May 2004, John Knutson will step up to the state level.
Last Sunday in Augusta, the Democratic State Committee elected Knutson as chairman of the Maine Democratic Party.
Knutson said he plans to continue in his role as chairman of the Hancock County Democratic Committee and will serve in both positions as an unpaid volunteer.
“I’m excited about it,” he said. “I think I have value to give to the party and value to give to Maine. There’s a lot to learn, but I’m excited to make this contribution.”
Knutson grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and attended his senior year of high school in Minnesota.
After that, he headed east, graduating from Brown University in Rhode Island in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
He then went to work as a public accountant in Boston for seven years. For the next 19 years, he worked as an insurance executive in Worcester, Mass.
He would head west again and work for an insurance company in Lansing, Mich., for 10 years before retiring in 1997 and moving to Brooklin.
Knutson said he had no political experience at all until 2000, when he and his wife volunteered to compile an electronic voter list for Hancock County. The project took about a year and a half.
He later attended Camp Wellstone, a weekend-long training program that instructs progressives in how to win on issues and elect candidates.
Knutson credits the training experience with teaching him how campaigns are run.
Since then, he has gone on to chair the Hancock County Democratic Committee and now looks forward to taking on the same role at the state level.
“My primary goal is to strengthen the grassroots campaign abilities of the Democratic Party in Maine, so that we maximize the participation of Maine citizens in the Maine political process and pursuit of Democratic values,” he said.
He said that as state chairman his vision is “to carry forward the rich traditions and values of the Democratic Party and elect Democrats who will exemplify those values.”
Asked to describe the party’s traditional values, Knutson said: “We care about people and are concerned that everyone in society has the opportunity to succeed and that the less fortunate among us who cannot do for themselves and need help will be helped.”