Springboro filmmaker tapped as Jim Renacci’s gubernatorial running mate

Renacci, a former Wadsworth mayor and U.S. congressman, is running against Republican incumbent Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in the May partisan primary election. Renacci said he chose Knopp “because he represents the Ohio working family” and “he’s not a politician” and that he understands “that in America anything is possible but nothing is guaranteed.”

“Just like me, Joe’s a husband, a father, a pro-life Christian that believes that freedom is no more than one generation away from extinction,” said Renacci. “And we see that in the federal government.”

He says that’s fixed with strong Ohio leaders standing up to the federal government, saying, “We’re not taking this anymore.”

“We’re taking back what you think you have, and we’re going to run our state just like (Florida) Gov. DeSantis,” Renacci said.

Knopp grew up poor in Philadelphia, and his father left and mother struggled with substance abuse, which led to a brief homeless period before a man named Wes Whitehead took him and his siblings to an orphanage. He lived there from 7 years old until he graduated high school.

He joined the Air Force in 1993 because he couldn’t afford college ― the military would pay for college ― and was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton when he was 19 years old. He earned a finance degree from Wright State University.

When he left the Air Force in 1999, he worked in the finance industry. During that time, a childhood friend who was a filmmaker brought him on to help secure investments and funding to tell inspirational stories. That relationship led to Knopp producing his own movies, his first was the 2015 sports drama “Woodlawn.” He also spent six months with the Trump family leading up to the 2020 election and produced the documentary “The Trump I Know.”

The Renacci-Knopp ticket will have strong ties to Trump, as Renacci had been an early supporter of the former president. It was Trump who convinced Renacci to drop his bid for governor in 2018 and run for U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland.

DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted have been highly criticized by members of their party for their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Renacci has called DeWine’s actions corrupt and an overreach of his constitutional powers.

“These past couple of years I’ve been asked to travel all around Ohio to talk about the life issue, about President Trump and the Republican Pary,” Knopp said. “I’ve gotten a lot of feedback throughout the state of Ohio and the frustration with the current governor we have in place.”

And Renacci, who’s been critical of Democrats and called DeWine “liberal,” said this race “isn’t about Republicans or Democrats, this is about Ohioans. That’s what’s important. If I hear one more person say, ‘You’re running against a Republican’ ― no I’m running for Ohioans. I’m running for Ohio.”