Democrat Jen Metzger gets first full term as executive
Democrat Jen Metzger was elected to her first full four-year term in an unopposed race for Ulster County executive.
Metzger garnered 32,378 votes in the race.
Metzger was first elected county executive in 2022 when she defeated Republican James Quigley to fill the unexpired term of former County Executive Pat Ryan. Ryan left the office in September 2022 when he was elected to the U.S. Congress.
She is a former Rosendale Town Board member who served in the state Senate from 2019-2020 and on the New York State Cannabis Control Board until becoming county executive.
During her first year in office, Metzger focused on environmental issues and creating more affordable housing throughout the county.
In one of her first acts in office, she signed an executive order outlining a series of initiatives she said would align the county’s climate goals with the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and move the county toward providing 100% of its annual building and fleet electricity needs from locally-generated renewable energy sources by 2030.
Metzger has championed the creation of the Housing Action Fund and has said she would earmark 25% of the county’s occupancy tax revenue to provide an ongoing revenue stream for the fund.
Metzger recently announced plans to create a new three-person Housing and Homelessness unit within the Department of Social Services to focus specifically on helping the county’s homeless find both temporary shelter and longterm housing.
She also called for the expansion of the county’s Climate Corps intern program as well as the creation of an energy and electrification manager within the Department of Public Works. She also proposed allocating $18 million from the county’s fund balance for a “decarbonization capital reserve” fund.