Drainage, ahead of everything else. Pilie campaigned on one issue above all others, calling it "our number one problem in St. Charles Parish." His stake in it is personal. Severe flooding reached his own neighborhood in 2020, and he has worked on drainage since early 2019. "That's my passion," he told the Herald-Guide, saying he did not want to flood again or watch his neighbors flood again.

Spending the drainage money where it does the most good. The parish master drainage plan carries a price he called incredibly large. His answer was triage: "you're going to have to prioritize and get the best bang for the buck."

Development that does not move water onto someone else. New construction, in his position, must be built so that it is "not going to flood any adjacent properties or their own."

Schools, police and firefighters. He described the parish's schools and police protection as good and argued for keeping them properly funded. Firefighters he singled out as underserved, needing "more permanent positions" and better funding.

The record he ran on. His campaign pointed to a $6.3 million grant for a culvert project across the CN railroad in the Ormond watershed. The Parish secured that grant; Pilie had pushed for the project. His campaign ran under the line "A Future We Can All Believe In."

Pilie won a contested race against Webb Jay IV in October 2023.