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 candidate Kathy Sheehan.
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.[1] Jennings is the second-longest-serving mayor in the history of Albany (Erastus Corning 2nd was the City's longest-tenured mayor).[2]
Democratic primary
On November 17, 2012, Sheehan announced herself as a candidate for mayor.[3] On September 10, 2013, Sheehan defeated Corey Ellis in the Democratic primary.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6]
Results
On November 5, Sheehan won the general election in a landslide, receiving over 83% of the total vote.[7]