SCHENECTADY — Holly Vellano, a former three-term Schenectady County legislator who narrowly lost her bid for reelection last year, was appointed Tuesday to fill the Legislature’s vacant seat following the death of Brian McGarry.
Vellano was formally seated to fill the District 4 seat after a 10-2 vote, which came a month after the death of McGarry, who represented the district since 2013 and was one of just a handful of Republicans seated on the Legislature. Vellano, a registered Conservative who plans to conference with Democrats, will hold the seat until the end of next year.
Lawmakers voted along party lines to approve Vellano’s nomination, made by the Legislature’s Democratic Majority Leader Gary Hughes. District 4 legislators Eric Hess, a Republican, and Josh Cuomo, a registered Conservative who caucuses with Republicans, voted against the nomination.
“There was no one better than Brian McGarry in my book, and he was an inspiration to all of us, and he will be truly missed,” Vellano said. “But standing here today, I truly appreciate the support of everyone, and I am so thrilled to be a part of them again. Let’s get back to work.”
Vellano, 70, previously represented District 4 — which includes the village of Delanson and towns of Duanesburg, Princetown and Rotterdam, where she lives — from 2010 until last year, when she lost reelection to Hess by 253 votes.
She previously served as the chair of the Legislature’s Committee on Environmental Conservation, Renewable Energy and the Parks Committees as well as the standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. She was also vice chair of the Labor and Civil Service Committee.
“Holly Vellano has long served her community as a dedicated volunteer and elected official,” Hughes said. “Mrs. Vellano, as many of her colleagues, shares the same values as her constituents, and as a registered Conservative she has advocated for their interests through participation on this Legislature’s majority conference.”
But Vellano’s nomination is a blow to Republicans, who currently hold just two of the body’s 15 seats.
Hess and Cuomo nominated McGarry’s widow, Patricia McGarry, to fill the vacancy, arguing that no one would be better suited to carry on the legacy of her late husband and that her appoint would have no impact on the Democratic majority.
“There’s no person to better fill Legislator McGarry’s seat, because no one can better represent his views, his values and his beliefs,” Cuomo said. “The residents of Schenectady County, particularly of District 4, strongly support [Brian McGarry], and I believe it would be an insult to them and their values to consider another candidate.”
Vellano said she has tremendous respect for Patricia McGarry and was not aware that she would be nominated to fill the position. She said she was approached a few weeks ago about filling the position, and after giving it some thought, decided she wanted to follow through.
“I just missed it,” she said.
Vellano said she would like to continue her work with veterans and look at ways to address crime and drug overdoses.
Anthony Jasenski, chair of the Legislature, said Vellano brings years of experience to the position and will work to benefit her constituents.
“I don’t think you’ll find a more qualified, competent, caring and dedicated individual to fulfill the remainder of Brian’s term,” he said.
Contact reporter Chad Arnold at: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @ChadGArnold.
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