Nine-Year-Old Running For Office, Wants Dinosaurs In Parks
Leilani is a 9-year-old who’s running for a seat in her town’s council, and she promises more gardens, and adorably wants to see more dinosaurs in city parks.
By on September 24, 2018
An adorable story of a little girl who decided to run for office. She’s running for a position in the council in a town in Tennessee. Her application to run was approved, and she’s actually been going door-to-door on her campaign.
Leilani Johns is 9 years old, and already planning a career in politics. She lives with her parents in Farragut, TN, a town of about 21,000. At first, she was opposed to running at such a young age. She said that she wanted to campaign “with all her princesses and a fashion show,” says her dad Bill Johns. Here’s the deal though – she’s (with the help of her parents) filled out an application to run, and it was approved. Leilani says that it was fun going through the application process. “(It was fun) seeing my paper get stamped by the lady and getting my picture made… I’ve been getting a lot of attention… I think I’m going to win,” she said.
Some of the things she promises if she were in office – gardens, and more dinosaurs. Yep, she wants to see more dinosaur amusements in the city’s parks. How cute! All the important, pressing issues here, folks. Leilani’s dad says she loves conservation and gardening, and wants to see more and bigger gardens in parks and recreation areas as well. I wouldn’t complain about that, either. She even, for her 4th birthday, asked for food donations instead of gifts. “I will bring a youthful perspective to the town, will be a great representative to Farragut schools and know exactly what kids want from our parks… I am available after 3:30 and before 9:30 during the school week,” Leilani said on the application.
The local office has no rules regarding age requirements, so technically she is qualified on a local level. However, the state does have an age rule (18). That means that she can’t officially be appointed the position, even if she is appointed by the other members. But, nobody is stopping her – she gets to go through the experience anyway. Her dad hopes the experience will stick with her and job interviews in the future. Also, the option to run for office in the future is still there too. I feel like she’s on a good track to do a lot of things in her life. See more on Leilani here.
