MISSOULA — There are two candidates in the running for Missoula's mayor in the Nov. 4, 2025, election: incumbent Andrea Davis and Shawn Knopp.
Knopp was born in Polson, moved around the Western U.S. throughout his life, but has been in Missoula for the past 20 years.
He currently works at Montana Glass and has no political background, although this is not his first time running for mayor.
Knopp says he's focused on evaluating city property tax increases, aiding the homeless and unhoused, and bringing a balanced budget to the city.
Ballots need to be in the mail by next week to be on time for the election.
Below is a full transcript of reporter Zach Volheim's interview with Knopp.
MTN: “Well, Shawn, thanks again so much for sitting down with me. My first question I have for you is could you just get a little bit of a background about yourself? Where'd you grow up? Did you move around? What are some of your favorite things to do in Missoula?”
KNOPP: “So I was born in Polson, Montana. Moved to Missoula when I was two,” answered Knopp. “Grew up through high school here. Graduated from Hellgate in 83. Went to California to play some baseball. Ended up getting married down there and we decided we weren't going to have kids, so we moved to Vancouver, Washington. In 2000, I decided I wanted to come home. We were going to get a divorce and so I came home for the family support and I just wanted to come home. Missed my family, missed my area. Owned a restaurant for five years. Got tired of that. So I've been with Montana Glass for 20 years."
MTN: “There's that saying that you always come back,” noted MTN.
KNOPP: "Yeah."
MTN: “It's true for you."
KNOPP: “Well, luckily, I came back when it was still affordable to come back."
MTN: “There you go. When I was asking where you wanted to conduct this interview, you said here at Montana Glass, what did you choose here?” Volheim asked.
KNOPP “Well, you know, a lot of people talk about the homeless problem, but a lot of them don't ever see the area. So I thought it'd be a good idea to put a little focus on the area, let some people see what's going on. “It's a big deal for me because, you know, I was homeless for six or eight months back out of high school. I lived in my car. But the help that we're giving these people is not really help. “We're doing the housing sprint. We're putting people in apartments. A month later, they're gone and they tear the place up because they're not getting the support that they need to actually strive, thrive in that apartment. I've seen people go into an apartment and 30 days later, they're back out in a tent on the street because they don't feel safe. They don't feel comfortable there. If we truly want to help the homeless, we have to get to the root of the problems. We need to work on the substance abuse aspect of it, the mental aspect of it. These people can't do it on their own. And just providing them with meals and sometimes a roof over their head, we're more enabling them more than ... we're helping them. So I would like to see some real help," Knopp said. "And Missoula needs to decide, are we going to help or are we just going to enable? “The city comes down here every Tuesday morning and they spend four to six hours cleaning this one block behind us. It's thousands of dollars every week. And by Thursday, you can't tell they were here."
Watch the full interview with Missoula mayoral candidate Shawn Knopp:
MTN: “Off of that, I'm curious to know what your top priority is if you're going to be elected into office."
KNOPP: “The budget has got to be the top priority. Missoula's city charter says we have to have a balanced budget every year. And I just learned not too long ago that we have a $3.1 million deficit, structural shortfall, they called it. It's not supposed to happen. We're supposed to have a balanced budget. So we need to get that in check first before we do anything.
MTN: And then off of that, the city has said they just raised property taxes for 2026, 3.34%. And the city's argument is to provide the level of services that they do, they have to make these incremental increases. And this recent raise was passed unanimously by city council. I'm curious to know what your thoughts are on that, especially as you say you're trying to balance the budget there."
KNOPP: “Yeah, they only raised it to three whatever percent. It was almost 16% last year, so we're still averaging about 10% a year. It's not sustainable. We have to find money elsewhere. We have to cut back in areas that need. I would go through the budget line by line, find out if there's any waste, overspending — things that we don't need anymore. We would have to look real close at the urban renewal districts that are siphoning off between 40 and 75% of the tax dollars. That hurts the schools. It hurts the county. It hurts the city. It hurts everybody. And we're spending that more on wants than we are on needs. And that needs to change."
MTN: “Where would you like to see Missoula in 20 years?”
KNOPP: “I'd like it to still be here and still look kind of like home. The way it's going, it's not. Unfortunately, the only way to make affordable housing is to build more,” said Knopp. “And we're going to have to infill. We're going to have to go higher, spreading farther out, which is all going to change what Missoula looks like. So hopefully we can do that in a reasonable rate and a reasonable way that it doesn't change Missoula."
Watch the full interview with Missoula mayor candidate Andrea Davis below:
MTN: “And then it's no secret that you've run for office a couple of times now. I'm curious to know why you still are running for office."
KNOPP: “People keep asking me to. I wasn't going to run this time, but they begged me to run. And so I finally, when there wasn't somebody else that was going to run against Andrea, I decided I'd better run. So on the last day of filing, I went down and filed and started campaigning."
MTN: “And then Shawn, my last one I have for you is, what's your elevator pitch for why someone should vote for you?”
KNOPP: “If you're tired of the same old thing, I'm the one person that's offering something different. So if you want change, I'm the best place to look for it."
MTN: Well, Shawn, thank you so much."
KNOPP: “You bet. I appreciate your time."
Click here for additional information about the Nov. 4, 2025, election in Missoula.
