Renaud was first elected as a Saint-Leonard councillor in 1978. He was re-elected in 1982 as a member of mayor Antonio di Ciocco's Équipe du renouveau de la cité de Saint-Léonard. This group dissolved after Di Ciocco's death, and Renaud formed the Ralliement de Saint-Léonard as a successor party.
Mayor
First term
Renaud was elected as mayor of Saint-Leonard in September 1984, winning a by-election that followed di Ciocco's death. This election was extremely divisive, dominated by a rival candidate's charge that the city had acted improperly in a land purchase; after the vote, Renaud filed libel suits against both of his opponents. Renaud's newly formed Ralliement de Saint-Léonard became the majority party on council in this period, including in its ranks many former members of the defunct Renewal Party. Shortly after assuming office, Renaud fired his personal secretary on the grounds that she had campaigned for one of his opponents. A Quebec Superior Court judge later ruled that this decision was unjust. As mayor, Renaud promoted a new arts centre and a renovation project for Jean Talon Street. He reluctantly accepted the city’s decision to withdraw from both projects in June 1985, acknowledging that it had been a mistake to move forward without the provincial government's guarantee of support. He supported a revised Jean Talon Street project, less expensive than the original, later in the same year.
Second term
Renaud was re-elected in the 1986 municipal election, defeating three rivals as his Ralliement de Saint-Léonard party won 10 of 12 seats on council. On election night, Renaud was quoted as saying "The opposition? There is no opposition in St. Leonard." He served a four-year term as mayor and was second vice-president of the regional Montreal Urban Community in 1989–90. There was a significant protest against Saint-Leonard's tax policies in early 1987. In May 1987, Renaud acknowledged that the city had overtaxed businesses by over one million dollars the previous year and indicated that he would seek redress for the matter. Renaud lost his council majority in May 1988, when Frank Zampino and seven other Ralliement de Saint-Léonard councillors resigned to sit as independents. The rebels accused Renaud of running the city in an undemocratic fashion, while Renaud responded that the split was due to jealousy and accused his rivals of letting outside forces run the city. Zampino's group established a priority committee to study documents before they were approved by council, and Renaud and Zampino fought for dominance of the municipal government over the next two years. Zampino defeated Renaud by about four thousand votes in the 1990 municipal election. Renaud did not seek a return to political life after this time.
