How good is your knowledge of Amsterdam’s political history? Here are ten questions that will test your memory of candidates and office holders from the Rug City’s past. How many can you answer correctly? The answers are posted after the final question, below:

1) This guy ran for Mayor more often than anyone else in Amsterdam  history. Who was he?

2) In his first effort to become Amsterdam’s representative in the New York State Assembly, this guy lost a 1980 election to Glen Harris? He has not lost another election since. Who is he?

3) Which of the following women did not serve as an Amsterdam city alderwoman?
a) Marie Gavry
b) Lesley Lanzi
c) Kim Brumley
d) Lorri DeRossi

4) He was Amsterdam Mayor in 1954 when the Sanford Rug Mills announced they were abandoning Amsterdam. Who was he?

5) Which of the following individuals was never a candidate for Amsterdam Mayor in a general election?
a) Joe Jacobs
b) John Mycek
c) Richard Insogna
d) Chuck Bigler

6) Can you name the four candidates who ran for Amsterdam mayor in the 1979 election to succeed the retiring John Gomulka?

7) This individual is the only person to serve as both Superintendent of Amsterdam City schools and Amsterdam Mayor. Can you identify this person?

8) The 1968 election for state assembly between these two Amsterdam natives pitted a powerful veteran politician versus a young and rising upstart and resulted in a shocking upset. Do you remember who the two candidates in this historic race were?

9) Who were the three candidates in the 2011 election for Amsterdam Mayor?

10) Which of the following individuals did not lose a primary bid in their effort to become a candidate for Amsterdam Mayor?
a) Joe Pepe
b) Ed Hardies
c) John Betz
d) Robert Going

Bonus Question: In what year was the former Sanford family home on Church Street officially donated to the  City of Amsterdam?

Correct Answers for Today’s Quiz are below:

Answer to question number 1: Arthur Carter ran for Mayor a total of nine times, winning five of those elections.

Answer to question number 2: Paul Tonko

Answer to question number 3: d) Lorri DeRossi never served on the Amsterdam Common Council but her youngest daughter Gina did.

Answer to question number 4: Burtiss Deal

Answer to question number 5: The correct answer is c). The late Richard Insogna was a well known Amsterdam attorney but he was never a mayoral candidate. Former City Corporation Counsel Joe Jacobs was the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee for the office in both the 1953 and 1959 elections. Former Montgomery County Surrogate Court Judge Mycek lost to Republican Frank Martuscello in 1955 and Bigler, the one-time Montgomery County Administrator finished third in his race against Paul Parillo and winner Mario Villa in the 1991 election.

Answers to question number 6: Mario Villa who won the election was the Republican candidate. One time Amsterdam city firefighter Dan Brojakowski was the 28-year-old candidate of the Democrats. Vito Dandreano ran on the Liberal ticket and Pete Phelps was the Conservative Party candidate.

Answer to question number 7: Wilbur H. Lynch

Answers to question number 8: Mary Ann Krupsak became the first woman to represent Amsterdam in the state assembly when she defeated the incumbent, Don Campbell, who had held the office for 18 years.

Answer to question number 9: Incumbent Mayor Ann Thane squeaked out a second term in the 2011 mayoral election by defeating former Amsterdam Mayor Joe Emanuele and veteran alderman Bill Wills.

Answer to question number 10: John Betz was the only one of these four choices who actually received his party’s nomination to run for Mayor when he became the Republican candidate in the 1967 election and was beaten by John Gomulka. Former alderman Joe Pepe lost his 1987 bid for the GOP nomination to then City controller John Blintz who in turn lost the general election to Democrat Paul Parillo. Ed Hardies, the long-time owner of an Amsterdam-based electrical contracting firm and Commissioner of Public Works under John Gomulka, lost his 1979 bid for the Democratic mayoral nomination to Dan Brojakowski. Former Montgomery County Family Court Judge Bob Going lost the 1983 Republican primary to Mario Villa.

Answer to Bonus Question: The Sanford family deeded the home to the city upon the death of John Sanford in 1932.