Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says she is going to apply the teachings realized from the 2024 elections and different current cycles as she works to win again the Senate majority for the Democrats within the 2026 midterm elections.
“If we’ve learned anything in the last few cycles, if you’re not in the field early, talking to voters about what they’re worried about, what’s their kitchen table issues, and then coming up with legislative solutions to help them, they’re not going to feel that you have their back. And so it’s about a relationship with your voters,” the brand new chair of the Democratic Senatorial Marketing campaign Committee informed Fox Information Digital in a current interview.
Gillibrand, the longtime senator from New York who was re-elected in November, was named on Monday by Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, a fellow New Yorker, to steer the Senate Democrats’ marketing campaign committee within the 2026 cycle.
“Electing more Democrats to the Senate in 2026 is the most important thing we can do to limit the damage of Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans and do more for working families,” Schumer argued in an announcement. “I have worked side by side with Kirsten Gillibrand for nearly two decades and I know she will be an outstanding DSCC Chair. With her hard work, tenacity, and discipline, Sen. Gillibrand is the right person to lead our campaign to victory in 2026.”
MEET THE REPUBLICAN SENATOR TASKED WITH DEFENDING THE GOP’S SENATE MAJORITY IN 2026
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., leaves the Senate Democrats’ lunch within the Mansfield Room within the Capitol on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Invoice Clark/CQ-Roll Name, Inc by way of Getty Photos)
Gillibrand pledged in an announcement to “work my hardest to support our Democratic incumbents, recruit the strongest possible candidates, and ensure they have every resource needed to win. I am confident that we will protect our Democratic seats, mount strong challenges in our battleground races, and look to expand our efforts into some unexpected states.”
The senator, as she regarded forward to her new mission to win again the Senate majority or as a minimum, lower into the GOP’s newly received 53-47 management of the chamber, pointed in her Fox Information Digital interview to her personal re-election and her efforts to assist Home Democrats flip Republican-controlled seats within the 2024 cycle.
“I made sure that for my race and for the House races in New York that our candidates were in the community talking to voters two years before the election, talking to them about what mattered to them. People were concerned about crime; they were concerned about immigration. They were concerned about fentanyl and gun trafficking. They were also concerned about the economy and the cost of food, the cost of housing,” she mentioned.
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Gillibrand emphasised that “we really did the outreach and engagement that you really need to do in this day and age to make sure you’re talking about the things that voters want you to be working on.”
Moreover, she mentioned that Democrats can be taught from President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 White Home victory.
“President-elect Trump is a formidable candidate. He showed in this last election that he was able to win over voters in states across this country, not just red states,” Gillibrand famous. “I think it’s important to learn the lessons of last cycle.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks throughout a information convention at Mar-a-Lago, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 in Palm Seaside, Florida. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Senate Democrats confronted a particularly tough map within the 2024 cycle as they misplaced management of the bulk. An early learn of the 2026 map reveals they are going to proceed to play protection in some states, but in addition presents alternatives to go on offense.
Amongst them is the southeastern battleground state of North Carolina.
“There’s a number of places where Democrats can win if they have the right candidate in the community early enough talking about the issues that voters care about. A state like North Carolina might be one where we got very close last time.,” Gillibrand mentioned.
There may be loads of hypothesis that former Gov. Roy Cooper, who simply completed steering the state for 2 phrases, might make a bid for the Senate in opposition to Republican incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis.
“There are some really remarkably good candidates in North Carolina, considering the former governor would be one of them. That’s the kind of state I’m going to be looking at around the country, states where Democrats have won in the past, where they might be able to win again if they have a candidate that really resonates and does the hard work of engaging voters early,” Gillibrand mentioned.
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One other potential pickup alternative for Gillibrand could also be blue-leaning Maine, the place average Republican Susan Collins is up for re-election in 2026.
“Susan is quite tough to beat,” Gillibrand acknowledged. However she added that “if we get a great candidate there, that’s a race where we will be competitive.”
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. (AP Picture/J. Scott Applewhite)
The 2026 map additionally offers Republicans alternatives to flip Democrat-controlled seats.
In swing state New Hampshire, longtime Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who’s taking up as rating member of the Senate International Relations Committee, is up for re-election.
Sen. Gary Peters, who steered the DSCC within the 2022 and 2024 cycles, is up for re-election in battleground Michigan. So is first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff in swing state Georgia.
“The great thing about Jean Shaheen is she is in her community every week, talking to people about the things she works on, on their behalf. She’s common sense, she’s bipartisan, and so I’m optimistic we will hold her seat,” Gillibrand mentioned. “I’m also optimistic about making sure Gary Peters holds his seat in Michigan. Again, he’s extremely bipartisan. He’s constantly working on behalf of the voters of Michigan to make sure they understand that he fights for them. The same is true, I’d say for Jon Ossoff. He hit the ground running as a new senator last term, and I think he really does resonate with Georgia voters.”
