Editing Albany County, New York (section)

==Government and politics==
For most of its history, Albany County has predominantly backed Democratic Party presidential candidates. In only three elections since 1924 has a Republican Party candidate carried the county in a presidential election, the most recent being [[Richard Nixon]] in 1972. The Democratic Party dominance has become more pronounced in recent years, with [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1988 the most recent Republican candidate to win even forty percent of the county's vote.

{{PresHead|place=Albany County, New York|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=October 22, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|54,560|92,589|2,528|New York}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|51,081|99,474|3,547|New York}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|47,808|83,071|8,939|New York}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|45,064|87,556|3,147|New York}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|50,586|93,937|2,743|New York}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|54,872|89,323|3,004|New York}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|47,624|85,644|8,765|New York}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|39,785|85,993|15,213|New York}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|49,452|80,641|25,270|New York}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|59,534|86,564|1,363|New York}}
{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|74,542|75,447|603|New York}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|52,354|74,429|17,581|New York}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|69,592|71,616|1,201|New York}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|81,848|67,297|330|New York}}
{{PresRow|1968|Democratic|52,948|80,724|5,679|New York}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|32,224|114,827|101|New York}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|61,600|91,973|119|New York}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|86,202|65,982|0|New York}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|79,871|72,633|266|New York}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|59,965|75,419|5,350|New York}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|60,543|71,128|289|New York}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|58,912|77,052|210|New York}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|52,962|71,631|2,918|New York}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|46,244|73,194|1,321|New York}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|48,762|62,380|2,295|New York}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|48,253|38,671|5,848|New York}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|48,750|28,376|1,863|New York}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|26,628|18,799|485|New York}}
{{PresRow|1912|Republican|20,418|17,235|5,362|New York}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|24,763|18,732|782|New York}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|24,964|18,768|746|New York}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|23,495|18,752|505|New York}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|22,263|17,818|753|New York}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|18,398|18,994|1,376|New York}}
{{PresRow|1888|Democratic|19,362|21,037|454|New York}}
{{PresFoot|1884|Democratic|17,698|18,343|1,295|New York}}

Albany County was governed by a board of supervisors until 1968.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ricciardi |first=Gary |date=November 5, 1975 |title=Coyne, Stack Victors in Albany County Race |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/58886743/ |work=[[The Record (Troy)|The Times Record]] |location=Troy, NY |page=7 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The board consisted of the [[town supervisor]]s of each town in the county, as well as county supervisors elected from the wards of each city in the county.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haskins |first1=Henry R. |last2=Powers |first2=Michael J. |date=1875 |title=Journal of the Albany County Board of Supervisors |journal=Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Albany |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112108078798;view=2up;seq=8 |location=Albany, NY |publisher=The Argus Company |pages=3–4 |via=[[HathiTrust]]}}</ref>  In the later years of its existence, the board used a system of [[weighted voting]] to comply with recently enacted federal and state [[proportional representation]] requirements.<ref>{{cite book |last=New York State Assembly |date=1964 |title=Journal of the Assembly of the State of New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ks9JAQAAMAAJ&q=%22weighted+voting%22 |volume=1 |location=Albany, NY |publisher=Williams Press |page=1061}}</ref> On January 1, 1976, Albany County government was changed by a new charter establishing a [[county executive]] elected [[at-large]], in addition to the 39-seat county legislature.<ref>{{Cite news | date = November 25, 1973 | title = 3 more counties adopt charters | periodical = [[The New York Times]] | page = 59 }}</ref> In the first election for county executive, [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee James J. Coyne Jr., who was then serving as county clerk, defeated [[Liberal Party of New York|Liberal]] nominee Theresa Cooke, county treasurer and a critic of the county and city Democratic machine run by [[Daniel P. O'Connell]], and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee [[Almerin C. O'Hara]], former state Commissioner of the Office of General Services.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rosenfeld |first=Steven P. |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=November 5, 1975 |title=Dems grab new county exec posts |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/syracuse-herald-journal-exec/159684867/ |work=[[Syracuse Herald-Journal]] |location=Syracuse, New York |page=4 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Each of the 39 legislators are elected from [[single-member districts]]. As of 2023, the county legislature has 29 [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 10 [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=County Legislators {{!}} Albany County, NY |url=https://www.albanycounty.com/government/county-legislature/legislator-list |access-date=May 1, 2023 |website=www.albanycounty.com |language=en}}</ref>

The County Executive is Daniel P. McCoy. Other officials elected countywide include District Attorney Lee Kindlon, Clerk Bruce A. Hidley, Comptroller Susan A. Rizzo, and Sheriff Craig D. Apple. All county officials are Democrats. Other elected officials with districts in the county include:{{div col}}
* State Assembly
** [[Christopher Tague]], Republican, 102nd District
** [[John T. McDonald III|John McDonald]], Democratic, 108th District
** [[Gabriella Romero]], Democratic, 109th District
** [[Phillip Steck]], Democratic, 110th District
** [[Angelo Santabarbara]], Democratic, 111th District
* State Senate
** [[Patricia Fahy]], Democratic, 46th District
** [[Jacob Ashby]], Republican, 43rd District
* United States House of Representatives
** [[Paul Tonko]], Democratic, 20th District
{{div col end}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Albany County Legislature
|-<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.albanycounty.com/legislature/legislators.aspx |title=County Legislators |access-date=January 18, 2017 |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131191314/http://www.albanycounty.com/legislature/legislators.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>
! District
! Legislator
! Party
! Residence
|-
| 1
| Carolyn McLaughlin
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Albany, New York|Albany]]
|-
| 2
| Merton Simpson
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 3
|Wanda Willingham, '''Deputy Chair'''
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 4
| Mark Robinson
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 5
| Susan Pedo
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 6
| Samuel I. Fein
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 7
| Beroro T. Efekoro
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 8
| Lynne Lekakis
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 9
| Andrew Joyce
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 10
| Gary Domalewicz
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 11
| Frank Commisso
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 12
| William M. Clay
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 13
| Raymond Joyce
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Albany
|-
| 14
| Alison McLean-Lane
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Loudonville, New York|Loudonville]]
|-
| 15
| Robert Beston
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Watervliet, New York|Watervliet]]
|-
| 16
| Sean E. Ward
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Green Island, New York|Green Island]]
|-
| 17
| Bill Ricard
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Cohoes, New York|Cohoes]]
|-
| 18
| Gilbert Ethier
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Cohoes
|-
| 19
| Todd Drake
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
|[[Latham, New York|Latham]]
|-
| 20
| David Mayo
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Latham
|-
| 21
| Jennifer A. Whalen
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| Latham
|-
| 22
| Susan Quine-Laurilliard
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Colonie, New York|Colonie]]
|-
| 23
| Paul Burgdorf
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| Colonie
|-
| 24
| Ellen Rosano
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Loudonville
|-
| 25
| Ryan Conway
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| Loudonville
|-
| 26
| Patrice Lockart
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| Colonie
|-
| 27
|Frank Mauriello, '''Minority Leader'''
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| Colonie
|-
| 28
| Mark Grimm
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| [[Guilderland, New York|Guilderland]]
|-
| 29
| Dennis Feeney, '''Majority Leader'''
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Guilderland
|-
| 30
| Dustin M. Reidy
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Westmere, New York|Westmere]]
|-
| 31
| Jeff S. Perlee
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| [[Knox, New York|Knox]]
|-
| 32
| Mickey Cleary
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Guilderland
|-
| 33
| William Reinhardt
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Slingerlands]]
|-
| 34
| Joanne Cunningham, '''Chair'''
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Delmar, New York|Delmar]]
|-
| 35
| Jeffrey D. Kuhn
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Glenmont, New York|Glenmont]]
|-
| 36
| Matthew J. Miller
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| [[Selkirk, New York|Selkirk]]
|-
| 37
| Zachary Collins
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| [[Coeymans (CDP), New York|Coeymans]]
|-
| 38
| Victoria Plotsky
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Democratic
| Clarksville
|-
| 39
| Christopher H. Smith
| {{party shading/Republican}}|Republican
| [[Berne, New York|Berne]]
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Albany County Executives
! Name
! Party
! Term
|-
| James J. Coyne Jr.
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| January 1, 1976 – December 31, 1991
|-
| [[Michael J. Hoblock Jr.]]
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| January 1, 1992 – December 31, 1994
|-
| Michael G. Breslin
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| January 1, 1995 – December 31, 2011
|-
| Daniel P. McCoy
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| January 1, 2012 – present

|}
<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.albanycounty.com/government/county-legislature/legislator-list |title=County Legislators |website=AlbanyCounty.com |access-date=March 14, 2020}}</ref>