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Albany County Legislature appoints Democrat to fill seat held by Republican who resigned after homophobic remarks
Melanie Lekocevic reports for Capital Region Independent Media that the Albany County Legislature on May 10 replaced former Legislator George Langdon with former Albany County Legislator Rick Touchette. Langdon, a Republican, resigned April 5 after it was reported that he made homophobic statements at a seminar in Voorheesville on March 27. "Sorry, when you have homosexual relationships, it’s not perpetual. Give them an island — they’ll be gone after 40 years. God created us to be this way,” he said. After a protest and several officials calling for him to resign, Langdon did so April 5. Now the county legislature has replaced the Republican with a Democrat who used to hold the seat, which represents Coeymans in southern Albany County. Touchette held the District 37 seat from 2015 to 2019, when Langdon beat him at the ballot box. “It’s a great honor to be appointed to the Albany County Legislature,” Touchette said. “I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues once again and to serve my neighbors in the 37th District.” But appointing a Democrat did not go down well with Coeymans Republican Town Supervisor George McHugh wanted fellow Republican Town Councilman Zachary Collins appointed. “Rick Touchette is out of step with the residents of Coeymans as shown by his sizable defeat in 2019,” McHugh said. Read more about this story in The Ravena News-Herald.