Emilie Munson is reporting for the Times Union President-elect Joe Biden has been announced the winner in Rensselaer and Saratoga counties, where President Donald Trump claimed victory in 2016 and Republicans have dominated down-ballot, according to election results reported November 18. In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Rensselaer County by slightly more than 1,000 votes; neither candidate won more than 47 percent of the vote. But in 2020, Biden won the county, 52 to 46 percent, with a 5,400 vote margin, according to the county Board of Elections results certified November 18. This outcome is notable in a county that has elected Republican county executives for decades and is currently lead by Executive Steve McLaughlin, an iron-fisted GOP partisan. The county does have slightly more active registered Democrats than Republicans. Rensselaer voters have gone for a Democrat before: President Barack Obama won the county in both 2008 and 2012. "It’s not uncommon. In Rensselaer County, every election is different. We had some pretty strong victories for middle-of-the-ticket candidates," said Rich Crist, Schodack GOP chair, county director of operations and McLaughlin's right-hand man. In the county, both Biden and Trump received more votes in 2020 than Clinton and Trump did in 2016, with turnout rising to 78.4 percent of eligible voters. In Saratoga County, as of mid-week, the county had counted nearly 24,000 absentee ballots; multiple sources said approximately 1,000 more ballots remained to count. Read the full story in the Times Union.