page_title: Rensselaer County, New York
section_title: Government and politics
hierarchical_section_title: Rensselaer County, New York / Government and politics
caption_attribution_description: English: County Courthouse of Rensselaer County, New York on the southeast corner of Congress and 2nd Streets in Troy, New York.
context_page_description: Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 159,429. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the land in the area.
  Rensselaer County is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.
context_section_description: 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 of the Democratic party, which had not had control of the county government in decades.  That plan, which controlled the 1969 election, resulted in the Democrat's 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. The current county executive-elect is Steve McLaughlin (R).  Legislative authority is vested in the County Legislature, which consists of 20 members representing 17 different communities, separated into six districts. The current composition of the Legislature is as follows (11 Republicans, 5 Democrats and 4 Conservatives that caucus with the Republicans):
  District 1 – Troy:
     Cindy Doran (C)
     Mark Fleming (D)
     Peter Grimm (D), Minority Leader
     Edward Manny (D)
     Gary Pavlic (D)
     Leonard Welcome (D)
  District 2 – North Greenbush, East Greenbush, and Poestenkill:
     Robert W. Bayly (R)
     Philip Danaher (C)
     Louis Desso (C)
     Leon Fiacco (R)
     Kelly Hoffman (C)
  District 3 – Brunswick, Schaghticoke, and Pittstown:
     Thomas Walsh (R)
     Todd J. Tesman (R)
     Kenneth Herrington (R), Majority Leader
  District 4 – Schodack, Sand Lake, and Nassau:
     Judith Breselor (R)
     Martin Reid (R)
     Alex Shannon (R), Vice Chairman 
  District 5 – Hoosick Falls, Hoosick, Grafton, Berlin, Stephentown, & Petersburgh:
     Stanley Brownell (R), Chairman
     Lester Goodermote (R)
  District 6 – Rensselaer:
     Mike Stammel (R)
caption: Rensselaer County Courthouse located on the corner of Congress and 2nd Streets in Troy
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