LOUISIANA () — Quentin Anderson has spent most of his career working with nonprofits and as an organizer for politicians. Through his experience, Anderson said the only way to make a difference was for him to run for office.

"Because I saw it, you know, my career was working with these politicians and then they kind of disappointed me. So, I always tell people, Superman's not coming. Sometimes it's just got to be you. If you look around and there's not a savior around, it's probably because you're the person that's supposed to step up," Anderson said.

Raised in Baton Rouge, Anderson attended LA Tech before earning his law degree at LSU.

"I've never practiced law. I didn't get my law degree to do so. I always wanted to work in policy. You're successful. You could make the biggest difference. I think about things like, you know, the New Deal and stuff like that," he said.

Anderson expanded his resume further by working with nonprofit organizations such as United Way.

That experience led him to political organizing.

"I felt like I was really making a difference doing that sort of stuff. Whether it was getting a law passed in Illinois or doing solo work in D.C. But I also got to see political leaders behind closed doors, particularly how political leaders who look like me and often represent districts that are majority Black treat their voters when their voters aren't looking, and they sort of treat them like house money," Anderson said.

Anderson said the biggest way to create change for the people of his community is through elected office.

"And then I think the other thing which has been pretty unifying is being able to invest in the things that can reduce crime, particularly youth crime. If we actually want to reduce crime, we have to make the bad people less likely to be bad. So that does mean investing on the front end in things like education, in things like your job training, but like 21st-century job training," he said.

With the willingness to go against the status quo, Anderson said his independence makes him stand out.

"I think the thing that really makes me stand out is not being bought and paid for. When you take money from certain people, you're less likely to criticize them or you're less likely to look at them through a critical lens. You're less likely to be kind of honest because now they're your friends. Having a certain degree of independence allows you to simply see [the] problem [and] fix problems," he said.

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