Common Council president Carolyn McLaughlin officially announced Saturday morning that she's running for mayor of Albany.

From her announcement speech at the Albany Colosseum building on South Pearl Street:

We know it's not about us as an individual, but it's about what we as a community can do to make this city of Albany that ultimate community for which we all can be proud to say that we live in, that we work in, and that we play in. We know that this can be the kind of city that recognizes that you can't be about one neighborhood, but it's about all neighborhoods.

McLaughlin, a Democrat, was first elected to the Common Council in 1997, representing the 2nd Ward, which includes the South End. She won the Common Council presidency in 2009. (She was also chair of the Albany County Democratic Committee for two years until losing out in a party election this past September in what was seen as part of the build up to the mayoral race.)

McLaughlin is the first candidate to officially announce she's in the pool for mayor. She will presumably face incumbent Democratic mayor Kathy Sheehan in the party's primary this September (and perhaps one other person?). The Democratic primary has historically been the de facto election for the office because of the party's overwhelming enrollment advantage in the city.

If elected, McLaughlin would be the first African-American mayor of Albany.

Here's video of McLaughlin's announcement speech, along with another clip of her talking about her personal and professional history...

Announcement speech

Personal and professional history