[2] Kenney defeated Democrat Mike Cryans in a special election held in March 2014 to fill the District 1 Executive Council seat vacated after long-time Republican incumbent Raymond S. Burton died in November 2013.
[3][4] Kenney defeated Cryans again in 2014 and 2016, lost re-election in their fourth rematch in 2018, but won back his seat in 2020.
He attended Spaulding High School in Rochester and hitch-hiked 20 miles (32 km) to basketball practice to play on the varsity team during the winter.
In February 1989, he was pulled from Officer's Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, and honored by President George H. W. Bush at the White House for his work as an enlisted Marine stationed in Washington, DC for collecting over a hundred thousand toys for needy kids in the metropolitan area.
On January 2, 2010, he was recognized by the Boston Celtics at center court with the "Heroes Among Us Award" and subsequently went back to Afghanistan to finish his tour.