Editing Rensselaer County, New York (section)

==Government and politics==

[[File:RensselaerCountyOfficeBuilding.jpg|thumb|right|Rensselaer County Office building, which houses county offices, including that of the County Executive]]
[[File:RensCoCourthouse.png|thumb|right|Rensselaer County [[Courthouse]], located on the corner of Congress and 2nd Streets in Troy]]
{{PresHead|place=Rensselaer County, New York|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|first=David|last=Leip|website=uselectionatlas.org}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|38,601|39,668|882|New York}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|36,500|40,969|1,940|New York}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|33,726|32,717|5,119|New York}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|29,113|37,408|1,540|New York}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|32,840|39,753|1,393|New York}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|34,734|36,075|1,705|New York}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|29,562|34,808|4,066|New York}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|23,482|34,273|9,870|New York}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|28,937|29,793|15,850|New York}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|35,412|33,066|719|New York}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|43,892|26,755|217|New York}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|32,005|29,880|7,862|New York}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|40,229|28,979|445|New York}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|48,864|24,019|188|New York}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|34,674|30,232|3,775|New York}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|20,814|51,170|76|New York}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|40,124|36,109|61|New York}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|55,186|20,516|0|New York}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|51,453|25,734|109|New York}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|40,375|28,468|2,354|New York}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|37,819|30,173|139|New York}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|39,648|32,387|97|New York}}
{{PresRow|1936|Republican|34,772|31,754|2,095|New York}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|30,606|32,783|828|New York}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|32,370|33,094|727|New York}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|30,549|19,783|4,341|New York}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|28,810|20,224|2,337|New York}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|14,968|13,822|440|New York}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|10,853|11,684|4,954|New York}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|17,196|13,162|953|New York}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|17,631|12,529|925|New York}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|17,228|13,464|614|New York}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|17,221|13,119|574|New York}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|13,666|14,879|1,397|New York}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|15,718|15,410|549|New York}}
{{PresRow|1884|Republican|13,759|13,414|1,102|New York}}
|}

From [[1884 United States presidential election|1884]] through the [[1988 United States presidential election|1988 campaign]], voters in 
Rensselaer County chiefly supported the Republican candidate. [[Donald Trump]] carried the county in [[2016 United States Presidential election|2016]].

Beginning in 1791, Rensselaer County was governed by a Board of Supervisors, which acted as the [[Legislature]], with the chairman of the board serving as a ''de facto'' Executive. The Board of Supervisors form of government was terminated as a result of a class action lawsuit brought by Troy attorney Marvin I. Honig on behalf of his wife, Nedda, during March 1968. Mr. Honig brought this lawsuit to declare that the Board of Supervisors, as constituted, violated the "one man, one vote" principal declared by the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Honig's motive in bringing the lawsuit was to punish the Rensselaer County Republican Party chairman and certain members of the Board of Supervisors for defaulting on an agreement with him. The NY Supreme Court ruled in Honig's favor, and ordered the creation of a legislative body. Several plans were offered, but a plan proposed by Honig was adopted by the Court, and its decision was affirmed by the Appellate Division and Court of Appeals. The first "Honig Plan" was drawn to favor the Democratic party, which had not had control of the county government in decades. That plan, which controlled the 1969 election, resulted in the Democrats winning control of the new Rensselaer County Legislature. Thereafter, following a change of leadership in the Republican party, Honig brought a new plan, drawn to favor Republican candidates, to the court, which adopted his revised plan. The second "Honig Plan" was affirmed by the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals. The Republican candidates won back the County Legislature in the 1971 election, and Honig became the Renssselaer County Attorney, a position he held for well over a decade. A full explanation of the creation of the Rensselaer County Legislature can be found at http://nassau-stories.blogspot.com/2006/04/reapportionment.html. See also: The Troy Record, July 8, 1971, page 1.

In 1970, the Rensselaer County Legislature was created, which elected Edward J. "Ned" Quinn as chairman. The chairman served as the equivalent to an executive until the office of [[County Executive]] was created in 1972. Since its creation, Democrats have never won the office, although they controlled the Legislature until 1994. One notable candidate for Executive was [[Edward Pattison]] who was later elected to Congress, and whose son Mark served two terms as Mayor of [[Troy, New York|Troy]]. The current county executive is Steve McLaughlin (R).

Legislative authority is vested in the County Legislature, which consists of 19 members representing 17 different communities, separated into six districts. The current composition of the Legislature is as follows (ten Republicans, six Democrats, two Conservatives who caucus with the Republicans, and one Independent who caucuses with the Republicans):

District 1 – [[Troy, New York|City of Troy]]:
* {{Party shading/Democratic/block}} Cynthia B. Doran (D), '''Deputy Minority Leader'''
* {{Party shading/Democratic/block}} Mark J. Fleming (D)
* {{Party shading/Democratic/block}} Peter D. Grimm (D), '''Minority Leader'''
* {{Party shading/Democratic/block}} Nina M. Nichols (D)
* {{Party shading/Democratic/block}} Carole C. Weaver (D)
* {{Party shading/Democratic/block}} Ken Zalewski (D)

District 2 – [[East Greenbush (town), New York|East Greenbush]], [[North Greenbush]], and [[Poestenkill (town), New York|Poestenkill]]:
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Robert W. Bayly (R), '''Vice Chairperson for Finance'''
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Leon B. Fiacco (R)
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Thomas Grant (R)
* {{Party shading/Coalition/block}} Kelly Hoffman (C), '''Chairwoman'''

District 3 – [[Brunswick, New York|Brunswick]], [[Pittstown, New York|Pittstown]], and [[Schaghticoke (town), New York|Schaghticoke]]:
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Dan Casale (R)
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Kenneth H. Herrington (R), '''Majority Leader'''
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} William Maloney (R)

District 4 – [[Nassau (town), New York|Nassau]], [[Sand Lake, New York|Sand Lake]], and [[Schodack]]:
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Wayne Gendron (R)
* {{Party shading/Coalition/block}} Thomas Choquette (B)
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Robert R. Loveridge (R), '''Vice Chairperson'''

District 5 – [[Berlin, New York|Berlin]], [[Grafton, New York|Grafton]], [[Hoosick, New York|Hoosick]], [[Hoosick Falls]], [[Petersburgh, New York|Petersburgh]], and [[Stephentown]]:
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Bruce Patire (R)
* {{Party shading/Republican/block}} Jeffrey Wysocki (R)

District 6 – [[Rensselaer, New York|City of Rensselaer]]:
* {{Party shading/Coalition/block}} Brian Stall (C)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ '''Rensselaer County Executives'''
! Name
! Party
! Term
|-
| William J. Murphy
| {{party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| January 1, 1974 – December 31, 1985
|-
| [[John L. Buono]]
| {{party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| January 1, 1986 – May 1995
|-
| [[Henry F. Zwack]]
| {{party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| May 1995 – May 13, 2001
|-
| Kathleen M. Jimino
| {{party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| May 2001 – December 31, 2017
|-
| [[Steven McLaughlin|Steven F. McLaughlin]]
| {{party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| January 1, 2018 – present
|}

{{As of|2021}} the current sheriff is Patrick A. Russo.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sheriff – Rensselaer County|url=https://www.rensco.com/departments/sheriff/|access-date=October 31, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> Notably, Russo was the only sheriff in the state to embrace [[Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g)]], which authorizes local and county law enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|date=March 20, 2018|title=A Lone New York Sheriff Signs Up to Aid Immigration Crackdown|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/nyregion/new-york-rensselaer-county-ice-jails.html|access-date=October 31, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=July 29, 2019|title=Activists Suing Rensselaer County Over Plan To Provide Voter Information To ICE|url=https://www.wamc.org/capital-region-news/2019-07-29/activists-suing-rensselaer-county-over-plan-to-provide-voter-information-to-ice|access-date=November 2, 2021|website=WAMC|language=en|author=Dave Lucas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=September 25, 2021|title=Rensselaer County sheriff responds to complaint filed against jail, ICE|url=https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer-county/rensselaer-county-sheriff-responds-to-complaint-filed-against-jail-ice/|access-date=October 31, 2021|website=NEWS10 ABC|language=en-US}}</ref>