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.
| Election Name: | 2005 Albany mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | File:Flag of Albany, New York.svg |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Gerald Jennings |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Before Election: | Gerald Jennings |
| Mayor | |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Country: | New York |
| Election Date: | November 8, 2005 |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2001 Albany mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2001 |
| Next Election: | 2009 Albany mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2009 |
| Nominee1: | Gerald Jennings |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 15,367 |
| Percentage1: | 68.65% |
| Nominee2: | Alice Green |
| Party2: | Green Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 5,548 |
| Percentage2: | 24.79% |
| Nominee3: | Joseph Sullivan |
| Party3: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote3: | 1,465 |
| Percentage3: | 6.54% |
The 2005 Albany mayoral election occurred on November 8, 2005. Incumbent Democrat Gerald Jennings was reelected to a fourth consecutive term.
Primary elections were held on September 13, 2005.
In the general election, Jennings defeated Green Party candidate Alice Green, and Republican Party candidate Joseph Sullivan, a perennial candidate and local activist.[2] 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.[3]
| Election Name: | 2009 Albany mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | File:Flag of Albany, New York.svg |
| Party2: | Working Families Party |
| Percentage3: | 7.15% |
| Popular Vote3: | 1,178 |
| Party3: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Gerald Jennings |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Before Election: | Gerald Jennings |
| Mayor | |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Percentage2: | 29.14% |
| Popular Vote2: | 4,801 |
| Nominee2: | Corey Ellis |
| Country: | New York |
| Election Date: | November 3, 2009 |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2005 Albany mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2005 |
| Next Election: | 2013 Albany mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2013 |
| Nominee1: | Gerald Jennings |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Alliance1: | Conservative |
| Popular Vote1: | 10,466 |
| Percentage1: | 63.52% |
| Nominee3: | Nathan Lebron |
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.
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.[4] [5]
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 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.[6]
| Election Name: | 2013 Albany mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | File:Flag of Albany, New York.svg |
| Country: | New York |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2009 Albany mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2009 |
| Next Election: | 2017 Albany mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2017 |
| Election Date: | November 5, 2013 |
| Nominee1: | Kathy Sheehan |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 13,134 |
| Percentage1: | 83.49% |
| Nominee2: | Jesse Calhoun |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,025 |
| Percentage2: | 6.52% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Gerald Jennings |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Kathy Sheehan |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
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.
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.[7] Jennings is the second-longest-serving mayor in the history of Albany (Erastus Corning 2nd was the city's longest-tenured mayor).[8]
On November 17, 2012, Sheehan announced herself as a candidate for mayor.[9] On September 10, 2013, Sheehan defeated Corey Ellis in the Democratic primary.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12]
On November 5, Sheehan won the general election in a landslide, receiving over 83% of the total vote.[13]
| Election Name: | 2017 Albany mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | File:Flag of Albany, New York.svg |
| Percentage1: | 70.42% |
| After Election: | Kathy Sheehan |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Before Election: | Kathy Sheehan |
| Mayor | |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Percentage2: | 22.54% |
| Popular Vote2: | 3,687 |
| Party2: | Independence Party of New York |
| Nominee2: | Frank Commisso Jr. |
| Popular Vote1: | 11,520 |
| Country: | New York |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Nominee1: | Kathy Sheehan |
| Election Date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Next Year: | 2021 |
| Next Election: | 2021 Albany mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2013 |
| Previous Election: | 2013 Albany mayoral election |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Type: | Presidential |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
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.[14] [15]
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.[15]
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.[15]
See also: 2021 New York state elections.
| Election Name: | 2021 Albany mayoral election |
| Flag Image: | File:Flag of Albany, New York.svg |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 8,837 |
| Percentage1: | 63.05% |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Alliance2: | Conservative Party of New York |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,385 |
| Percentage2: | 17.02% |
| Turnout: | 14,015 |
| Election Date: | 2 November 2021 |
| Next Year: | 2025 |
| Next Election: | 2025 Albany mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2017 |
| Previous Election: | 2017 Albany mayoral election |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Candidate2: | Alicia M. Purdy |
| Party3: | Independence Party of New York |
| Candidate3: | Gregory J. Aidala |
| Candidate1: | Kathy Sheehan |
| Popular Vote3: | 2,374 |
| Percentage3: | 16.94% |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Mayor | |
| After Election: | Kathy M. Sheehan |
| Before Election: | Kathy M. Sheehan |
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.[16] [17]
| 2021 Albany mayoral election[25] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| New York Democratic Party | Kathy Sheehan (Incumbent) | 8,837 | 63.05% | ||
| New York Republican Party | Alicia M. Purdy | 1,862 | 13.29% | ||
| Conservative Party of New York | Alicia M. Purdy | 523 | 3.73% | ||
| Total | Alicia M. Purdy | 2,385 | 17.02% | ||
| Independence Party of New York | Greg J. Aidala | 2,374 | 16.94% | ||
| Write-in | 419 | 2.99% | |||
| Total | 14,015 | 100% | |||