[4] Following graduation from high school, Leeser began his career in the auto industry, working with several dealerships in El Paso for over three decades.

[10] El Paso officially utilizes a council-manager government type which is affiliated with weaker ceremonial mayors with few to no formal powers differentiating them from city council members.

[15][16] In August 2021, Leeser vetoed a $96 million certificate of obligation bill passed 6-2 by the El Paso city council.

In response, city council member Cassandra Hernandez refuted Leeser's claim that it was the will of the people, citing the need for infrastructure repair.

El Paso County, Texas judge Ricardo Samaniego, supported Leeser's veto by calling it a "sound decision".

[17] In August 2023, Leeser elected to perpetuate an 11 p.m. curfew for adolescents in public locations that has existed in El Paso in some capacity since 1991.

[18][20] Therefore, in spite of the veto, El Paso's local rules were overrode and in order to abide by state law the curfew ended.

[19] However, the mayor and other advocates of the curfew pledged to petition the state government, alongside the representatives of similarly minded municipalities, to reverse this mandate.

He added as well that the asylum-seekers did not intend to stay long in El Paso as they moved on to their destinations across the country, but that the city had the ability to provide the resources needed for their journeys.

[24] Leeser has stated that the federal government has been very helpful amidst the ongoing border crisis, but admits that there needs to be systemic change.

The president of a local neighborhood association raised fears about having a migrant shelter near the Charles Q. Murphree School, which is still in operation.

[29][30] The conflict surrounding the demolition of the Duranguito neighborhood was resolved in January 2023 by a city council vote rejecting the proposal.

This letter would supersede one sent by former mayor Dee Margo, which called to exclude the neighborhood from the National Register of Historic Places.

[32] Tommy Gonzalez was El Paso’s city manager since 2014, however, there was much controversy surrounding his contract, because it gave him $425,000 annually, on top of a monthly vehicle allocation, health and life insurance, and a retirement plan.