When Jackie Salvatore is sworn in as Columbia County Sheriff in January, she won’t just assume a county post. She’ll make history — becoming the first Black woman ever elected county sheriff in New York State.
“I don’t think about it that much,” Salvatore told the Herald days before the election. “I have a really exceptional résumé that’s prepared me for this office — and I happen to be Black and a woman.”
Salvatore, 58, won decisively on Tuesday, Nov. 4, with 58% of the vote, defeating Republican John Rivero. Her victory followed nearly four decades in law enforcement — and a lifetime in Hudson, where she was born and raised after her parents moved north from Virginia seeking opportunity…