Will be the first woman to chair the 39-seat body
DELMAR – There will be a new face leading the Albany County Legislature when all its members meet for the first time in January.
In an unusually-timed caucus of the Democrats, Joanne Cunningham, D-Delmar was elected on Thursday, Dec. 20 to replace Andrew Joyce D-Albany to Chair the 39-seat legislature. The caucus usually takes place in Early January, but Democratic Majority Leader Dennis Feeney, D-Guilderland scheduled the meeting early this cycle.
Cunningham will be the first woman to lead the body in history and also a legislator that is from the suburbs instead of one of the Counties’ cities.
“I am very excited to get started,” She said. “I will pave a new path as I go. As a woman you approach leadership in different ways and through a different lens.”
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said that the change will settle things down and make a better environment to work through.
“I have a good relationship with [Cunningham] and look forward to working with her,” McCoy said. “I want a good partnership. It makes my life much easier and avoids the chaos of the other way.”
Feeney originally scheduled the party caucus for December 14, but the unexpected death of legislator Matthew Peter delayed it by a week.
Usually both parties caucus on January 1 to decide leaders, but this year was different.
“He moved the start to secure his votes or just miscalculated this cycle,” McCoy, who was a former Chair of the legislature, said. “It is always in January.”
Legislator Wanda Willingham, D-Albany made it clear that she was interested in a change of leadership and would run against Joyce, but it would take 15 party members to make a change.
“I was a key early supporter of Wanda’s coalition that she had put together and when we realized she was a bit short, I turned up as the top alternative candidate,” Cunningham said. “There was a viewpoint by the caucus that Wanda’s and Andrew’s support was evenly split and moved to a candidate that could be supported by both.”
Joyce withdrew his name and a unanimous vote was cast.
“It is a bit of a surprise,” Minority Leader Frank Mauriello said. “I’ve known there were a number of candidates competing or who had shown interest in the position over the last several weeks, but I wasn’t sure who it would be until yesterday.”
Currently, the Democrats have a 28-10 majority over Republicans, so whoever emerges from the caucus becomes chair.
“Although we come from different political backgrounds, we’ve had a good working relationship in the past,” Mauriello said. “Having a potential Chair from the suburbs, regardless of their politics, is a huge shift from prior years. Most of our Republican and Conservative Conference comes from the suburbs – that is one thing we would have in common with a potential Chair Cunningham.”
Cunningham was elected to her third term in November after first being elected to the legislature in 2015. She is also the Chairperson of the Bethlehem Democratic Committee.
She said that she would continue to support many initiatives and would continue to champion environmental conservation, economic development and the County’s strong social services network.
The Albany County Legislature is scheduled to meet on January 1 at noon to swear in new members and choose leaders, she said.
This story was updated on December 27 to correct that Democratic Majority Leader Dennis Feeney scheduled the caucus meeting.
