LAPLACE — Russell Jack Jr.’s career in politics began, oddly enough, at the barber shop.

Young, enthusiastic and fresh out of school, the Edgard native was getting his usual trim when a friend suggested he should run for office.

“Really? You think I should?” Jack said.

He wasn’t really serious about it until one of the elder gentlemen replied, “You’re not ready to do this. You don’t know about that.”

As far as Jack was concerned, that just answered the question for him.

“Then it became a personal thing to me,” he said. “As I young man, I felt I owed it to the people who came out for me. My classmates and my friends came out and worked so hard. We had never worked in politics before. We didn’t have any money. We never raised any.  After I got elected, I felt I owed them and I had something to prove to the older people. ”

It was much the same when some people questioned whether Jack was the right man to become the new Registrar of Voters earlier this year.

Jack was appointed to the position after a vote by the St. John Parish Council in February.

It was not unanimous. He was chosen over Monica Joseph and Mary Numa, who had served five years under retired Registrar Rita E. Jarrow, by a 5-3 margin. One Council member abstained.

Jack said it was Jarrow, a longtime friend, who first approached him about applying for the position.

“She said she thought it would be a good fit for me,” he said.

While some questioned his lack of experience, it wasn’t as if Jack was completely unfamiliar with elections.

He won a bunch of them and served 14 years as the District 1 representative on the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board.

He had no experience with the other side of the process, however, which is why some people questioned it.

“I had never seen that side of it,” Jack said. “I really didn’t know everything that goes into it.”

Jack said he researched as much as he could about the position, which is responsible for registering voters and conducting elections.

The office staff has to certify the voting machines before and after the election to ensure that everything is conducted properly.

They also are responsible for early voting for each election.

Jack said the job interested him because it would allow him to continue serving his community, “as I have been the last 15 or 20 years and loving it. I love my community.”

Jack had served in various capacities for three Parish Presidents, including as Assistant to the Parish President.

He also worked for the Orleans Parish School Board for a time.

Jack also is heavily involved in various civic activities, including the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march in Edgard and he organizes all of his West St. John Class of 1990 activities.

This job would bring him some personal job stability, which he said he needed in his life.

“There came a time when I had to do something full time for myself,” he said. “I’m getting a little older now and I have to think about the future. I needed to find a full time position.”

Jack said he once again set out to prove the naysayers wrong.

“I know a lot of people wanted the job,” he said. “I know some people were upset they didn’t get the job. Some people said it was politics, because I had been on the School Board. Some people said I didn’t have experience.

“I didn’t let it bother me because I have been a part of the politics here. I always want to prove them wrong. I’ve learned how to humble myself and I try to do the best that I can. I prayed on it. I know God allows things to happen for certain reasons.”

St. John Parish Councilwoman Jaclyn Hotard was one of Jack’s supporters during the voting process in February. She knew the previous staffs and felt Jack would do well.

“I had no doubt that Mr. Jack would be an asset in the office and that he and his staff would hit the ground running,” Hotard said.

“Many upgrades have already taken place in the office to assist with early voting and improve voter wait times. If you early voted in the last few elections, you may have already experienced the additional ease of early voting. I applaud Mr. Jack and his staff for taking the initiative to enhance the ROV office and I look forward to many more great things to come.”

Jack attributes the smooth transition to the help of Numa, his Chief Deputy, and the hiring of Amy Plaisance, his Confidential Assistant.

“We are like a family here,” Numa said. “He’s doing a great job. We have no problems. The hardest thing is, it’s a process. There are procedures. You can’t make mistakes.”