A dream come true
Jesse Koczon wasn’t willing to let anything stand in the way of his dream to become governor of his native state of New Jersey — not even the fact that he is only five years old. After a YouTube video surfaced of him crying because he was “too small” to be governor, Jesse fulfilled those ambitions, if only for a day.
On April 6, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a proclamation naming Jesse (pictured on the right, with his brother Brandon, Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno) the state’s honorary governor for the day, according to the Associated Press (AP). “Don’t worry, Jesse,” Christie said in a message on Twitter after viewing the YouTube video. “People gave plenty of reasons why I couldn’t be governor, though being small wasn’t one of them.”
The video, which was shot in November 2009 when Jesse was 4, shows the boy weeping after his parents took him and his twin brother, Brandon, with them as they voted in New Jersey’s gubernatorial election. When Koczon’s mother, Dawn, asks her son why he’s so upset, Jesse breaks down. “‘Cause I want to be governor, and I can’t!” he weeps. Asked why, Jesse answers, “Because I’m too small!”
The clip, which was awarded $10,000 on America’s Funniest Home videos in December, resurfaced last month and quickly went viral, landing Koczon on TV and branding him a YouTube sensation, according to AP.
See more pictures of Jesse’s day as governor and watch the YouTube video.