Season 1 Leslie is initially shown to harbor romantic feelings for her co-worker
Mark Brendanawicz (
Paul Schneider), likely stemming from a romantic liaison with him several years before. She is also desperate to impress her mother,
Marlene Griggs-Knope (
Pamela Reed), a well-known politician in the Pawnee government. At a public forum, she meets
Ann Perkins (
Rashida Jones), who informs her about a gaping hole near her house that her boyfriend,
Andy Dwyer (
Chris Pratt), fell into. Leslie takes on the project and quickly becomes friends with Ann. She has a difficult relationship with her mother, a tough and tactless woman who has had a long and successful career in local government and who does not think much of her daughter's professional or personal choices.
Season 2 Leslie seems to move on from her romantic interest in Mark and begins dating police officer
Dave Sanderson (
Louis C.K.). She also begins taking charge and gains a lot of confidence. Also, more of her relationships with her coworkers are shown. Towards the end of the season, Dave, who is enlisted in the
U.S. Army Reserve, is called into active duty in San Diego, where he does custodial work. Dave asks Leslie to move with him to San Diego, and although she considers it, she ultimately declines because she loves her work and Pawnee too much to leave, and they part ways amicably. She then dates an old lawyer friend of Ann's named Justin (
Justin Theroux). Although Justin seems to be a perfect boyfriend and has many interesting stories, Leslie soon realizes that stories are all Justin cares about. After he reunites Leslie's mother with an old flame over Leslie's constant protests, she breaks up with him, realizing that Justin cares more about the reunion story that he could potentially tell than he does about her. At the end of the season, Leslie and the rest of the department get a visit from two state
auditors,
Ben Wyatt (
Adam Scott) and
Chris Traeger (
Rob Lowe), who shut down the government due to Pawnee's crippling financial problems. Leslie and Ben have an antagonistic relationship at first but soon develop a mutual respect for each other.
Season 3 In this season, Leslie works on the Harvest Festival in hopes of bringing money to Pawnee. She and Ben are no longer at odds and develop a friendly working relationship, complicated by romantic feelings. However, their budding relationship is threatened by Chris' inter-office dating rules, and they attempt to keep their romance under wraps, despite telling Ann, Ron, Leslie's mother, and a maintenance worker at the memorial service for Lil' Sebastian, Pawnee's beloved, recently deceased
miniature horse. In the season finale, Leslie is approached by a group of people who look for talent in government with the potential for political careers. They tell Leslie that they believe she has the potential to become a member of the city council or even the mayor.
Season 4 Leslie comes to realize that while she is running for the city council, her relationship with Ben cannot continue, and they reluctantly break up. Leslie then announces her city council candidacy. Leslie writes a book called
Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America. She also finds out that she was actually born in Eagleton because, according to her mother, "the Pawnee hospital had been overrun by raccoons." Leslie and Ben struggle with being broken up; Leslie wants to remain friends with Ben, but he tells her it's just too hard for him. Leslie finally decides she wants to be with Ben, no matter the consequences, and they get back together. Ben resigns from his position in order to save Leslie from getting fired. Her campaign managers inform her that they can no longer run her campaign because her approval ratings are dismally low after the news of her relationship with Ben was revealed. The rest of the Parks employees (and Ann), on a mission to return the love Leslie has shown them over the years, tell Leslie that they will run her campaign for her, allowing her to continue going after her dream. After several tumultuous months, it is announced that Bobby Newport (
Paul Rudd), son of Sweetums founder Nick Newport (
Christopher Murray), has won by 21 votes. Ben later approaches officials and notifies them that it is the law that they re-count since it was so close. Ann then reveals to Leslie that she in fact beat Bobby by 21 votes.
Season 5 At the beginning of the season, she and Ben get engaged and move into a house together. She and Ben get married in the middle of the season, months earlier than the couple had originally planned. They initially arrange to marry at a black-tie event they planned and executed to raise money for the future park at Pawnee Commons. However, Leslie's City Council nemesis Jeremy Jamm (
Jon Glaser) disrupts the ceremony by setting off stink bombs and booing Leslie, leading to Ron punching him in the face and getting them both arrested. However, the Parks and Recreation Department plans a secret wedding that same night in the office area, and Ron walks Leslie down the aisle. During her first year as a city councilor, she passes a city-wide soda tax, merges the animal control and parks department, and secures the money for the Pawnee Commons. At the end of the season, the Sweetums Corporation, a major manufacturer of sugary snacks and Pawnee's biggest employer, begins a campaign to
recall her.
Season 6 Leslie is a key member in the absorption of Eagleton into Pawnee because of a debt problem in Eagleton. After staging a
filibuster which wins the citizens of former Eagleton voting rights, Leslie is recalled and replaced with her Eagletonian counterpart, Ingrid de Forest (
Kristen Bell). Leslie gets the lot and parks for the Pawnee Commons after a heated debate between her and Jamm, in return for five worthless IOU's from Chris (who was soon leaving his post as City Manager). She dedicates the unofficial groundbreaking of Pawnee Commons to Ann before she and Chris leave for Michigan in "Ann and Chris". In "Flu Season 2", Leslie discovers that she is pregnant. In "One in 8,000", after a visit to a doctor, Ben and Leslie find out that they are going to have triplets. Soon after, Leslie is offered a position in the
National Park Service, in Chicago. After stalling on her decision for most of the season, Leslie is eventually convinced by Ben to accept the job, but then after finding out that the Parks Department had her declared as one of the new founders of the new town of Pawnee, she convinces her new boss to relocate their office from Chicago to the Third Floor of Pawnee City Hall. Three years from the end of season six, Leslie and Ben have three children, and Leslie is the head of the Midwest Parks Service on the bustling third floor of Pawnee City Hall.
Season 7 Leslie is head of the Midwest branch of the National Park Service, working to build a national park in Pawnee. Ron is her main opponent in this effort, as he wants to build a new Gryzzl campus. As the season progresses, however, Ron and Leslie eventually reconcile, and she successfully secures the national park for Pawnee. Soon afterward, she and Ben decide to move to Washington with Andy and his wife
April Ludgate (
Aubrey Plaza) after Leslie is offered a promotion to work at the
U.S. Department of the Interior and Ben decides to run for Congress. In flash-forwards, it is shown that by the year 2025, Leslie will run a successful campaign for
Governor of
State of Indiana, and will serve two terms in that office. It is implied that either she or Ben (or both) has been elected President of the United States by 2048 when they are both flanked by the
U.S. Secret Service at the funeral of Pawnee Mayor (and Leslie's former Parks employee)
Garry Gergich (
Jim O'Heir). In the present, the gang gets together for a picture, as they are unsure when the next time they see each other will be. Ben asks Leslie if she's ready, to which she responds, "Yes. I'm ready." ==Development==