My Foray into Local Politics
Back in February, a friend of mine in the New Orleans Young Republicans gave me a fantastic opportunity. He told me about some local campaigns in the city of Kenner. I have never worked on a local political campaign before. So, I thought that I should seize the opportunity and dive into the local political scene. This decision ended up giving me so many memories and valuable campaign experience.
The two local campaigns I volunteered for were the Keith Conley and Mike Glaser campaigns. Mr. Conley ran for Chief of Police in Kenner, and Mr. Glaser ran for Mayor in Kenner. For my out-of-town readers, Kenner is a suburb of about 60,000 residents in the Greater New Orleans area.
During the campaign, I performed a variety of tasks with the other volunteers–such as door-knocking, sign-waving, or delivering signs. Many people might see these tasks as menial or unimportant. However, those tasks are the heart of a campaign–especially door-knocking. Door-knocking is all about meeting potential voters where they’re at … literally. Having those one-on-one conversations with voters is truly a foundational part of local politics.
Moreover, I had so much fun with the other volunteers and the candidates during the 2 months I helped with the campaign. From the group’s lunches at Parran’s to the Saturday morning meetings at election HQ, the camaraderie I experienced during the campaign was pretty epic.
If you couldn’t tell, I really enjoyed the campaign. Now, I will talk about election day in Kenner (last Saturday)
Heated Elections
On March 26th, the Chief of Police and Mayoral elections took place in Kenner. These local races were some of the most heated elections the city has seen in many years–and for good reason.
In the past few years, the citizens of Kenner were increasingly upset with the way their city was being run. The (soon-to-be-ex) mayor of Kenner Ben Zahn rubbed many citizens the wrong way with the numerous controversies that plagued his administration–from the extreme overpayment of city employees during Hurricane Ida to the “garbage contract controversy’ in 2020.
Enter in Keith Conley and Mike Glaser. Both of these men stepped up to the plate to help solve the issues plaguing their city. Conley and Glaser each decided to run for local office to “right the ship” in their city after years of poor leadership in Kenner.
Mr. Glaser chose to run against the incumbent Ben Zahn to become the next mayor of Kenner. Of course, running against an incumbent in a local election is usually a tall task. Regardless, Glaser decided to run for Mayor after serving two terms as the Chief of Police for Kenner. Kenner City hall had been in need of some “cleaning up” for a while, and Glaser positioned himself to be the man to do it.
Mr. Conley chose to run for the Chief of Police position–against Mike Sigur. Because Kenner is one of the safest cities in the Greater New Orleans area, Conley decided to run for Police Chief in order to “Keep Kenner Safe”! His vast experience in the Jefferson Parish Sherriff’s Office and in City government gave Conley the ability to lead Kenner’s police department. Overall, many Kenner citizens hoped that Conley would keep the continuity going in Kenner–both for the police department and for the city’s safe atmosphere. No one wants Kenner to become the next New Orleans.
Now that I’ve shared a good bit of info about both candidates, I’ll close this post by talking about the outcome of these two elections
The Outcome
On election night, some good news came early to the Conley and Glaser campaigns. Not long after the polls came out, the local media announced the results: Mike Glaser and Keith Conley both won their elections in landslide victories. Glaser took in over 75% of the vote, and Conley received about 68% of the vote. What a fantastic outcome for the City of Kenner!
I know that both candidates were grateful for their respective victories, and they definitely felt some relief after an exhausting campaign. Still, the true winners that night were the people of Kenner. These two men will do a fantastic job in leading the City of Kenner in these trying times, and I look forward to seeing them move Kenner into a better direction.
Without a doubt, Kenner will be “Stronger Together” in the coming years.
Overall, I am extremely grateful for everyone that I worked with during the campaign. Moreover, I appreciate that Mr. Conley and Mr. Glaser gave me my first opportunity in working a local political campaign (and you too, Alex!).
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and I encourage all my readers to get involved in their local political scene. As I often say, local politics do matter!