There was a lot of friendly Grizzly-Bobcat banter during the introduction of Bozeman businessman and state legislator Jon Knokey as Attorney General Tim Fox’s running mate for governor of Montana.

“We had some fun with the introduction today,” said Fox. “As you know I’m a Montana Grizzly. I ran on the track team and was the Big Sky Conference hurdle champion and my roots run deep in the University of Montana with three college degrees, and we played off that theme of a ‘house divided’ when you have a Grizzly and a Bobcat in the same family. We had a really fun video that ended with the phrase ‘a ticket united’,” said Fox.

Knokey, who played quarterback for the Montana State Bobcats, provided some details of his background.

“I grew up in third generation manufacturing family, in that my great grandfather, grandfather and dad all worked for the same factory,” said Knockey. “I played football for Montana State so the manufacturing and football background are what I consider part of my heritage. In the last 10 years I’ve worked for John Deere. At the age of 35 I was tapped to manage the corporate strategy for Deere, a $40 billion business with 65,000 employees across 120 countries.”

Knockey explained why he chose to be Fox’s running mate for governor.

“First and foremost, Tim is absolutely a man of character,” he said. “What you see is what you get. His Montana roots run deep. He’s a kid from Hardin who has spent his entire life and career helping Montana, and that’s a message I want to spread around.

It’s going to be easy for me to support Tim because Tim wins the general election. We’re up double digits above any Democratic candidate. The message to unite Republicans is do we want to pick a Republican who will lose another Republican who loses the general election, or do we want to be guaranteed to win the general election?”

Knockey added this for University of Montana fans to put their minds at ease.

“I just want them to know that when I got married, my best man was an offensive lineman for the Griz.”

Fox’s main Republican opponent is Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte, who has not yet named a running mate.

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