NEW YORK — New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has said she will run next year for her third full term, pledging to stage a sturdy campaign capable of boosting the state’s Democrats in down-ballot races.
Gillibrand, a Democrat who was appointed to her Senate seat in 2009, declared her candidacy as her party assesses its underwhelming performance in New York’s congressional races in the fall.
Republicans flipped four New York House seats in the midterm elections, and emerged with a thin five-seat majority in the chamber.
“Kirsten is committed to running a well-resourced, vigorous campaign that will not only be successful but will lift down-ballot races,” Gillibrand’s campaign said Thursday in an email to supporters.
“The road to Democrats retaking the House runs right through New York,” the email said. “We have a lot of work to do, but our team is prepared.”
There had been rumblings in political circles that Gillibrand, 56, might move on from the seat, which she assumed after former Sen. Hillary Clinton was appointed secretary of State.
Gillibrand staged a doomed campaign in the 2020 presidential race and has not proved as visible a downstate presence as New York’s senior senator, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
But Gillibrand’s email, released more than 21 months ahead of the 2024 Election Day, figured to dispel the chatter.
The message noted her dominant performances in general elections in 2012, when she won by 46 percentage points, and 2018, when she won by 34 points.
“Kirsten has already won three statewide elections and has never been in a better position to win reelection and lead New York Democrats to victory,” the email said.
The message highlighted her record on issues including the environment, 9/11 health care and sexual misconduct.
Gillibrand, who is relatively moderate, could still face a primary challenge from one of New York’s up-and-coming progressives.
In the last election cycle, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive, fanned talk of a potential Democratic challenge to Schumer by declining to rule out a primary bid in multiple interviews.
She ultimately did not run against Schumer, and he glided to the general election, where he beat his Republican rival, Joe Pinion, by 14 percentage points.
In the lead up to the primary, Schumer moved to shore up support on the left. The chairman of the state Democratic Party, Jay Jacobs, publicly urged Ocasio-Cortez not to run against Schumer.
Jacobs and the congresswoman have a rocky relationship. She called on him to resign after the midterms.
He said Friday that he believes Ocasio-Cortez “serves her constituency well,” but suggested that the progressive firebrand would struggle in a statewide race, given the more moderate tendencies of suburban and rural voters.
“I think giving up a House seat is not a move that she should make,” Jacobs said by phone.
It was not clear if Ocasio-Cortez would consider a campaign against Gillibrand. A spokeswoman for the 33-year-old House lawmaker declined to comment.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant, said he thinks the chances of Gillibrand losing her seat next year are “very small,” citing her strong record on women’s rights.
Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1 statewide, and New York has not elected a Republican to the Senate in 30 years.
Still, Sheinkopf said a primary entry by Ocasio-Cortez would scramble Gillibrand’s reelection odds.
“That could be a competitive race,” Sheinkopf said. “That could be a very close race.”
