Ken Zalewski featured in Metroland

Mon, Oct 22nd 2007, 11:23

Troy City Council candidate Ken Zalewski was featured in an article in Metroland.

The article reads, in part: 

With a knack for organizing, a political first-timer in Troy proves to be a strong opponent

Ken Zalewski might be new to the political game, but the Democratic candidate for Troy City Council has proven himself an impressive campaigner. To date, in his bid for the council seat in District 5, the neophyte office-seeker has amassed a war chest of $21,000—by most accounts, a record-breaking amount.

When asked how he did it, the engaging Zalewski mimics a telephone receiver with his right hand, puts it up to his face: “It was just candidate boot camp, on the phone every single day.”

A computer programmer by trade, Zalewski said it wasn’t until 2004 that he made his first foray into the political realm, campaigning for John Kerry’s presidential bid. In 2005, he campaigned for Democrats in Troy races, and, a year later, worked on the successful grassroots campaign for Kirsten Gillibrand in the 20th Congressional District. When a couple of people on the Gillibrand campaign suggested that he should run for office himself, he wasn’t quite sure what to think about it. But when he mentioned that suggestion to Rensselaer County Legislator Kevin Harrington (D-District 2), the response was ecstatic.

“He was like, ‘Oh yeah! You should definitely run! You have to do it!’ ” Zalewski recalled. “He was so excited about it, I was convinced.”