November 7 will be a historic day in Troy — regardless of who voters pick to be their next mayor.  

Both candidates, Democrat Nina Nichols and Republican Carmella Mantello, are women looking to succeed Democrat Patrick Madden and become the first-ever female mayor in The Collar City. 

Nichols said she’s hoping to build on Madden’s work as mayor.  

“I love Troy but I think it can be better,” she said. “We have a strong fiscal foundation that’s been laid by the current administration and I want to carry that forward.”

Nichols says debt service has been a big part of Troy’s budget for years, but now, multiple streams of debt are paid off and there’s finally room to invest more money into city neighborhoods.

“I’m going to invest equitably in every neighborhood, protect our families and encourage smart economic growth and pipelines to good jobs," Nichols said.

Nichols is an advocate for women’s reproductive healthcare, wants to protect renters and housing stock, and is determined to make Troy a more environmentally-friendly city. She has two years’ experience serving on the Troy City Council and currently serves as a county legislator.   

“I have that experience that can help to guide my work, but my whole life has been in the nonprofit sector building community and trying to make life better for people," Nichols said.

On the other side of the ballot is Republican contender and Troy native Carmella Mantello, who was also the GOP nominee for mayor in 1999 and 2011.  

“I’m born and raised in Troy, I love Troy. I live, eat, breathe Troy. It’s home to my family, I never left," she said.

Mantello has been on the city council for eight years and currently serves as president. She says voters know they can count on her to fix large or small issues, and that will continue if she’s elected mayor.  

Mantello’s campaign is focusing on issues like illegal dumping, lowering tax crimes and ensuring tax increases result in better services.  

“We’re seeing hot spots right now where there is crime. We have cameras — I worked very hard to get cameras all throughout the city — we need more mobile cameras in those hotspots. And we need our officers to park, walk and talk. I’m a huge proponent on getting our police officers out of the vehicles and really interacting with our neighborhoods," Mantello said.

Troy hasn’t voted for a Republican mayor since Harry Tutunjian won reelection in 2007.