Republican Kyle Bourgault was projected to defeat former Troy Police Chief Brian Owens on Tuesday to succeed Pat Russo as Rensselaer County sheriff, according to election results.

Bourgault received 19,798 votes, and was projected to beat Owens, a member of the New York Conservative Party who ran with the backing of county Democrats, by a 52.2% to 47.8% margin.

During the campaign, Bourgault promised to continue the county’s agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify and remove “incarcerated criminal noncitizens,” a policy called 287 (g) that was adopted by Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin in 2018.

Owens declined to commit to the program.

It was Owens' first run for political office, and he received the backing of Democratic state Assemblymember John McDonald.

Bourgault was endorsed by Russo.