Ernie Konnyu

Ernõ "Ernie" Könnyű was born May 17, 1937, in Tamási, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Tamási, Hungary)[1] to poet, professor and cartographer Leslie Konnyu and his wife, Elizabeth, a bookkeeper and owner of a home secretarial school, and is the eldest of his two late siblings Gabriela (Helen) and Zoltan (Joseph). In 1949 the 12-year-old Konnyu, together with his family, immigrated to the United States from a post-World War II refugee camp in Ampflwang, Austria. He attended parochial and public schools in Jefferson City and St. Louis, Missouri.[2] He attended University of Maryland, College Park and received his Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio State University in 1965. Konnyu served in the United States Air Force as a captain from 1959 to 1969 and as a major in the Air Force Reserve from 1970 to 1981.[3] In 1959, he married Lillian Muenks of Loose Creek, Missouri.

Konnyu joined the U.S. Air Force in 1959 as an enlisted medic, served at the U.S. Air Force Hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany, with a final rank of Staff Sergeant, and attended night school at the University of Maryland's Wiesbaden campus, then got an Air Force scholarship to attend Ohio State University, where he majored in accounting. He received his BS in Business Administration in 1965. He was admitted to the Air Force Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Texas, where he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. From 1965 to 1969 he served at Nellis AFB, Nevada, as a senior auditor with a final rank of captain. He spent 11 years in the U.S. Air Force Reserve ending with a rank of major until he received an honorable discharge retiring from the Air Force in 1997.

Konnyu's business career began in 1969 as Controller at Valley View Investments in North Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1970 he moved to Arcadia, California, where he was internal audit supervisor at Avon Products, Pasadena. Konnyu, a Certified Internal Auditor, served as corporate director of internal audit at National Semiconductor Corp. in Santa Clara, California, from 1974 to 1980. Konnyu continued his community service work with the Junior Chamber of Commerce first in Arcadia, then in San Jose, California. As a result of his extensive service to the community the Arcadia Jaycees recommended Ernie Konnyu for a lifetime Senatorship in Junior Chamber International which he received in 1973. ^5

Konnyu resumed his business career in 1989 investing in a printing business then in 1998 in a tax consulting service. After 22 years he sold his business and retired in 2011. He and his wife of 57 years reside in San Jose, California, and stay active with local, state and national professional, charity and political groups.

He ran unsuccessfully for Santa Clara County Assessor in 1994, losing the nonpartisan race to Democrat Larry Stone by 181,406 votes (52.51%) to 164,045 (47.49%).[9] In 2004, he won the Republican primary for California's 24th State Assembly district[10] but lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Rebecca Cohn by 94,152 votes (59.42%) to 55,956 (35.32%).[11] He ran brief and abortive campaigns to challenge Democratic Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom in 2014, to succeed retiring Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in 2016, against Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein in 2018 and against Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter in 2020.[12][13][14]

• List of federal political sex scandals in the United States

• Calbuzz
• Appearances on C-SPAN