Mayoral elections in Albany, New York


Elections are held every four years in the off-year immediately after United States presidential election years in Albany, New York, to elect [List of mayors of Albany, New York|Albany, New York|the city's mayor].

2005

The 2005 Albany mayoral election occurred on November 8, 2005. Incumbent Democrat Gerald Jennings was reelected to a fourth consecutive term.

Primaries

Primary elections were held on September 13, 2005.

Democratic

Candidates

General election

In the general election, Jennings defeated Green Party candidate Alice Green, and Republican Party candidate Joseph Sullivan, a perennial candidate and local activist. 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.

[|2009]

The Albany, New York, mayoral election of 2009 occurred on November 3, 2009. It saw the reelection of Democrat Gerald 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.

General election

In the general election, Jennings defeated Ellis, and Republican Party candidate Nathan Lebron. 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.

2013

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. Jennings is the second-longest-serving mayor in the history of Albany.

Democratic primary

On November 17, 2012, Sheehan announced herself as a candidate for mayor. On September 10, 2013, Sheehan defeated Corey Ellis in the Democratic primary. According to official returns released on October 9, Sheehan won the Democratic nomination with 7,468 votes to Ellis's 3,294 votes, with 601 write in votes and a few void and blank ballots.

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 ran on the Green Party line.
On November 5, Sheehan won the general election in a landslide, receiving over 83% of the total vote.

2017

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.

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.

General election

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.

2021

The 2021 mayoral election in Albany, New York, was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Democratic mayor Kathy Sheehan won re-election to a third term in office.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

  • Valerie Faust, reverend and write-in candidate for mayor in 2009 and 2013 ''''
    Disqualified
  • Marlon Anderson, advocate
  • Lukee Forbes, activist
    Declined
  • Dorcey Applyrs, Chief City Auditor of Albany
  • Corey Ellis, president of the Albany Common Council and candidate for mayor in 2009 and 2013 ''''

Republican primary

Nominee

Third-party and independent candidates

  • William Atlee, chief director of upstate exxon
  • Ved Dookhun

2025

The 2025 mayoral election in Albany, New York was held on November 4, 2025. Incumbent mayor Kathy Sheehan is retiring after serving three terms. The primary election took place on June 24, 2025.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Dorcey Applyrs, Albany Chief City Auditor
    Eliminated in primary
  • Marlon Anderson, community advocate
  • Dan Cerutti, former tech executive
  • Corey Ellis, Albany Common Council President and candidate for mayor in 2009 and 2013
  • Carolyn Mclaughlin, Albany County Legislator

Declined

Republican primary

Nominee

Rocco Pezzulo, entrepreneur

Independent candidates

Withdrawn