Elections are held every four years in the off-year immediately after United States presidential election years in Albany, New York to elect the city's mayor.
In the general election, Jennings defeated Green Party candidate Alice Green, and Republican Party candidate Joseph Sullivan, a perennial candidate and local activist.[3] This was a great result for Green who, 7 years earlier as the running mate of Al Lewis, helped the nascent Green Party of New York to achieve automatic ballot access by winning over 50,000 votes in the 1998 New York gubernatorial election.[4]
The Albany, New York mayoral election of 2009 occurred on November 3, 2009. It saw the reelection of DemocratGerald Jennings to a fifth consecutive term.
Democratic primary[]
The Democratic Party primary was held on September 15, 2009. Incumbent Mayor Gerald Jennings defeated Corey Ellis, a city council member, by a vote of 8,130 to 6,301.[6][7]
2009 Albany Democratic mayoral primary
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Gerald Jennings (incumbent)
8,130
56.34%
Democratic
Corey Ellis
6,301
43.66%
Total votes
14,431
100%
General election[]
In the general election, Jennings (running on both the Democratic and Conservative Party lines) defeated Ellis (running as the Working Families Party candidate), and Republican Party candidate . Jennings got 10,466 votes in total, Ellis came in second with 4,801 votes, and LeBron got 1,178 votes; there were also a few dozen write-in votes.[8]
The Albany, New York mayoral election of 2013 took place on November 5, 2013. The general election was preceded by the primaries on September 10, 2013. The winner of the election was Democratic nominee Kathy Sheehan.
Incumbent Democratic mayor Gerald Jennings did not seek reelection.
Background[]
The 2013 mayoral election was the City of Albany's first open-seat mayoral election since 1993. Incumbent mayor Gerald Jennings announced on May 14, 2013, that he would not run for a sixth term.[9] Jennings is the second-longest-serving mayor in the history of Albany (Erastus Corning 2nd was the city's longest-tenured mayor).[10]
Democratic primary[]
On November 17, 2012, Sheehan announced herself as a candidate for mayor.[11] On September 10, 2013, Sheehan defeated Corey Ellis in the Democratic primary.[12] According to official returns released on October 9, Sheehan won the Democratic nomination with 7,468 votes (65.72%) to Ellis's 3,294 votes (28.99%), with 601 write in votes (5.29%) and a few void and blank ballots.[13]
2013 Albany Democratic mayoral primary
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Kathy Sheehan
7,468
65.72%
Democratic
Corey Ellis
3,294
28.99%
Write-ins
601
5.29%
Total votes
14,431
100%
General election[]
In addition to Sheehan, who ran on the Democratic, Working Families, and Independence Party lines, Jesse D. Calhoun was the candidate of the Republican Party, Joseph P. Sullivan ran on the Conservative Party line, and Theresa M. Portelli (a former Albany City school board member) ran on the Green Party line.[14]
On November 5, Sheehan won the general election in a landslide, receiving over 83% of the total vote.[15]
The 2017 mayoral election in Albany, New York, was held on November 7, 2017, and resulted in the incumbent Kathy Sheehan, a member of the Democratic Party, being re-elected to a second term over Conservative Party candidate Joseph Sullivan, Green Party candidate Bryan Jimenez, and Independence Party candidate Frank Commisso Jr.[16][17]
Democratic primary[]
Sheehan won the Democratic primary election with less than 50 percent of the vote. Frank Commisso Jr., a member of the Albany Common Council; and Carolyn McLaughlin, the president of the Common Council, also ran.[17]
Commisso ran again in the general election as the candidate of the Independence Party. He criticized Sheehan over her handling of the city's finances and on the issue of tax breaks. Sheehan responded to Commisso's criticism through television advertisements, which were funded by a $387,000 loan from Sheehan to her campaign.[17]
The 2021 mayoral election in Albany, New York, was held on November 2, 2021. IncumbentDemocratic mayor Kathy Sheehan won re-election to a third term in office.[20][21]
Democratic primary[]
Candidates[]
Declared[]
Valerie Faust, reverend and write-in candidate for mayor in 2009 and 2013[22]
^"2009 Primary Election Results"(PDF). Albany County Board of Elections. November 3, 2009. p. 10. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 4, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
^"2009 General Election Results"(PDF). Albany County Board of Elections. November 3, 2009. p. 171. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 4, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2013.