Editing Albany, New York (section)

===Politics===
Albany's politics have been dominated by the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] since the 1920s; [[Daniel P. O'Connell|Daniel (Uncle Dan) O'Connell]] established a [[political machine]] in the city with the election of [[William Stormont Hackett]] as mayor in 1922.<ref name="grondahl48">Grondahl (2007), p. 48</ref> Prior to that, [[William Barnes Jr.]] had set up a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] machine in the 1890s. Barnes' success is attributed to the fact that he owned two newspapers in Albany and that he was the grandson of [[Thurlow Weed]], the influential newspaper publisher and political boss.<ref name="grondahl165">Grondahl (2007), p. 165</ref> O'Connell's organization overcame Barnes' in 1922 and survived well into the 1980s (even after his death). In many instances, votes were outright bought.<ref name="grondahl458">Grondahl (2007), p. 458</ref>

Gerald Jennings' upset in the 1993 Democratic mayoral [[Partisan primary|primary]] over Harold Joyce, who had the Democratic Party's formal endorsement and had only recently been its county chairman, is often cited as the end of the O'Connell era in Albany.<ref>{{cite news |title=As Joyce Goes Down in Defeat, So Does the Machine |author=Jochnowitz, Jay |date=September 15, 1993 |page=A1 |work=Times Union (Albany) |publisher=Hearst Newspapers |url=http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5690985 |url-status=dead |access-date=June 18, 2010 |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430030025/http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5690985 }}</ref> In the early 21st century, Albany continued to be dominated by the Democratic Party. Democratic Party enrollment in the city was 38,862 in 2009, while Republican enrollment was 3,487.<ref>{{cite news |title=Albany contenders |author=O'Brien, Tim |work=Times Union (Albany) |publisher=Hearst Newspapers |date=January 10, 2009 |url=http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=7354525 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 6, 2010 |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430030055/http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=7354525 }}</ref> As of 2022, every elected city position had been held by a Democrat since 1931.<ref name="mceneny201202">McEneny (2006), pp. 201–202</ref>

In November 2013, Kathy Sheehan became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Albany.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://albany.wnyt.com/news/news/554052-meet-kathy-sheehan-albanys-first-female-mayor|title=Meet Kathy Sheehan: Albany's first female Mayor|work=WNYT.com|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131118022626/http://albany.wnyt.com/news/news/554052-meet-kathy-sheehan-albanys-first-female-mayor|archive-date=November 18, 2013|access-date=November 17, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>