FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2026

ELMIRA, N.Y.—For decades, Coach John Knapp has challenged athletes and young people to confront adversity, develop discipline and refuse to allow difficult circumstances to determine their destiny.

Now he has decided that the same principle must be applied to the City of Elmira.

On Friday, August 7, at 6:00 p.m., Knapp will formally announce his independent campaign for the Elmira City Council District 6 seat during a public press conference at the Raven for Mayor booth at the Chemung County Fair.

Knapp, a lifelong Elmira resident, longtime baseball coach and author, will become the first prospective City Council candidate to publicly join the Raven for Mayor Political Revolution—a developing citywide movement to recruit a new generation of independent council representatives, reform Elmira’s governing structure and offer voters a decisive alternative in the 2027 municipal election.

After years of affiliation with the Democratic Party, Knapp has chosen to leave partisan politics behind and conduct an independent campaign centered upon Elmira’s interests.

“This is not about exchanging one political jersey for another,” Knapp said. “It is about taking the party jersey off and putting Elmira first. I was born here. I grew up here. I have coached here, worked here and watched this city decline. I have reached the point where standing on the sidelines is no longer acceptable.”

Knapp will operate his own District 6 campaign while joining Julian Raven’s broader effort to recruit independent candidates in each of Elmira’s six council districts.

That effort supports a proposed amendment to the Elmira City Charter restoring a full-time executive mayor, replacing the current city-manager-centered structure and returning direct executive accountability to the voters.

The movement also calls for disciplined municipal spending, streamlined government operations, protection of essential services, greater accountability and the willingness to make the difficult decisions necessary to stop Elmira’s economic hemorrhaging and restore the city’s stability.

“John Knapp is not entering this race because he wants to become another politician,” said independent mayoral candidate Julian Raven. “He is entering because he has spent his life teaching people that adversity is not destiny. Elmira now needs men and women who are prepared to apply that lesson to the city itself.”

Raven continued:

“John will not be running beneath me or behind me. He will run his own campaign, represent the people of District 6 and bring his own experience, judgment and convictions to the table. What joins us is the belief that Elmira cannot continue along its present course and that ordinary citizens must now step forward and lead.”

During Friday’s announcement, Knapp will explain what persuaded him to enter the race, why he is abandoning traditional party politics, what he believes District 6 deserves from its council representative and how his experience as a coach, educator, author and lifelong Elmiran has prepared him for public leadership.

Knapp and Raven will also discuss how this first council candidacy advances the larger plan to recruit six new council candidates, place charter reform before the voters and present Elmira with a genuinely new political alternative in 2027.

“This announcement is about one candidate,” Raven said, “but it is also the opening signal to every qualified Elmira citizen who has complained about the decline, questioned the existing system and wondered whether anything can still be done. Something can be done—but good people must be willing to stand up and do it.”

Date: Friday, August 7, 2026
Media arrival: 5:45 p.m.
Announcement: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Raven for Mayor booth, Chemung County Fair -Address: 170 Fairview Road, Horseheads, New York
Booth location:  Green And White tent opposite the Farm Animal Displays next to the Tin Smithing Tent

The formal announcement will be followed by media questions and an informal public meet-and-greet. Knapp and Raven will each deliver brief campaign remarks. Music, light refreshments and finger foods will follow.

Members of the public, District 6 residents, prospective independent candidates and members of the press are invited to attend.