ALBANY – Bethlehem Police Chief Gina Cocchiara is running for Albany County sheriff.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Cocchiara announced that she had filed paperwork with the Board of Elections to form a campaign committee to succeed Sheriff Craig Apple in the position, after he announced last week that he would not seek a fifth term. Apple has served as sheriff since 2011.
Cocchiara, a Democrat, said she would pick up Apple’s mantle if elected.
“Sheriff Apple has been a role model to me and so many others in local law enforcement for decades,” Cocchiara said. “His leadership, integrity, and dedication to Albany County have set the standard for what this office should be.”
In an interview Wednesday, Cocchiara, 61, said she hopes to expand restorative justice and diversion programs that Apple helped establish.
Veteran Democratic political strategist Libby Post will manage her campaign. She said a formal campaign kickoff event would be held in September.
Cocchiara has led the Bethlehem Police Department, which has about 60 sworn officers and staff, since 2020. She joined the department as a patrol officer in 1998 after serving as a sheriff’s deputy in Rensselaer and Greene counties.
Cocchiara hopes to take over a sheriff’s office with some 700 employees and broad law enforcement responsibilities throughout the county, including within the city of Albany. She would also oversee the Albany County jail, which houses hundreds of incarcerated people.
Advocates have long complained of abuses and misconduct at the jail.
“I’ve already set up an appointment with the superintendent of the correctional facility,” Cocchiara said. “That would be the biggest area where I would have more of a learning curve. That would be true for anyone serving in the sheriff’s role. If you’re a trooper or retired from a police department, you don’t come in with that knowledge.”
She said preparing to manage the jail would require “a lot of listening and learning.”
“You have to listen to what the problems are, from the people who work in the facility and from those who are housed in the facility themselves,” she said. “Whether you’re incarcerated or a free person in society, everyone deserves a level of respect and it doesn’t mean they’re second-class citizens. And you have to take care of the correction officers and make sure their conditions are safe.”
Institutional support for Cocchiara appeared to coalesce quickly after Apple made his announcement last week. Two people familiar with the matter told the Times Union that County Executive Daniel P. McCoy, County Legislature Chair Joanne Cunningham and Apple are expected to back Cocchiara in the 2027 Democratic primary.
On Wednesday, a former subordinate of Cocchiara’s, Adam Hornick, announced that he was “seriously considering” his own run for sheriff. Hornick, also a Democrat, was a member of the Bethlehem Police Department for 26 years and retired as a commander in 2022. He is currently the chief investigator for the Albany County District Attorney’s Office.
Former Bethlehem Police commander Adam Hornick in 2022. He said Wednesday he was seriously considering a run for Albany County sheriff that would pit him against his former boss, Bethlehem Police Chief Gina Cocchiara. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Hornick, 50, said he had not yet filed the paperwork to run but would soon make a final decision on whether to enter the race.
“This is a race where the people will decide what each candidate brings in their administrative, law enforcement and public safety backgrounds,” Hornick said. “The community of Albany County will ultimately evaluate and make a selection.”
Cocchiara was interviewed for this story before Hornick publicly expressed his interest in running. She said her experience leading the Bethlehem Police Department made her well-positioned to succeed Apple, citing her oversight of budgets, personnel, training and community partnerships, as well as organizational changes she implemented within the department.
She said her resume reflects experience on a “much broader scale” than that of a retired law enforcement officer who had not managed a police department or overseen a budget.
Cocchiara declined a second interview after Hornick confirmed he was considering a run. In a statement, Post said, “We look forward to a spirited primary where the voters make the final decision on who the Democratic nominee will be.”
In Albany County, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by roughly 2.5 to 1, winning the Democratic primary would likely make the nominee the favorite in the 2027 general election. No Republican has entered the race so far.
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This article originally published at Bethlehem Police Chief Gina Cocchiara to run for Albany County sheriff.