The Optimistic and Effective Campaigning of Junior Ezeonu

A reminder that effective local politics still starts face-to-face.

This op-ed is not sponsored by Junior Ezeonu or anyone in his campaign, he’ll be as surprised as anyone to read it. These are my opinions and felt the need to share.

Back in 2021, when former City Councilman Junior Ezeonu ran in his first city council campaign and he came on the Faces of Grand Prairie podcast to answer questions in his runoff, it took about two minutes to realize that politics came naturally to him. And I don’t mean politics as a negative verb—I mean politics as a skill set. He understood how to dial into populist sentiment and then how to turn that into real connections with voters. What wasn’t clear at the time was whether Junior was genuinely a guy who loved his community and loved politics, or whether he was simply the kind of candidate who knew how to look like he did.

Over the last five years, from my perspective, he genuinely loves it. And when I say that, I don’t mean he loves attention or the performance of politics—I mean he loves policy, and he loves talking about politics. He truly enjoys listening to constituents and believes wholeheartedly that they matter, and that the things they care about should matter to the people who represent them. I don’t always agree with his positions, but what makes Junior different than most elected officials is that you can actually tell him that, and it doesn’t offend him. If anything, it makes him even more interested in what you have to say.

People pick up on that immediately, which is why he connects so well with people on the campaign trail. He knocks on doors of people he doesn’t know—which already puts him in the campaigning minority. He’s young enough to understand social media and use it well, but his specialty is meeting people face-to-face, especially at their front door. As he said on his recent podcast, his goal is “giving them a reason to go vote,” and voters absolutely do need a reason to go vote and get engaged. Often it’s the excitement or passion of someone else that sparks in them a desire to participate, even if they haven’t voted in years.

Junior behaves naturally as a person who believes people will go vote, and that he wants that vote. I talk to a lot of politicians and elected officials about voter turnout, and most are pessimistic about it and don’t think it will ever change because, deep down, they believe people are apathetic and don’t care about local politics. Junior doesn’t live like that, and it’s refreshing to say the least. We need more candidates and elected officials who are genuinely optimistic about voters and hungry to earn their trust, because Junior is right: you give them a reason, and they will surprise you.

You can check out his most recent appearance on the podcast in January 2025.