Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., leaves the Senate Democrats' lunch in the Mansfield Room in the Capitol on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Gillibrand pledged in a statement 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 looked ahead to her new mission to win back the Senate majority or at the least, cut into the GOP's newly won 53-47 control of the chamber, pointed in her Fox News Digital interview to her own re-election and her efforts to help House Democrats flip Republican-controlled seats in 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 said.
GILLIBRAND ARGUES DEMOCRATS SHOULD HAVE PUT IMMIGRATION ON THE TABLE TWO YEARS AGO
Gillibrand emphasized 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."
Additionally, she said that Democrats can learn from President-elect Donald Trump's 2024 White House 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 noted. "I think it's important to learn the lessons of last cycle."
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The 2026 map also gives Republicans opportunities to flip Democrat-controlled seats.
In swing state New Hampshire, longtime Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who's taking over as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is up for re-election.
Sen. Gary Peters, who steered the DSCC in 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 said. "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."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-new-senate-campaign-committee-chair-reveals-keys-winning-back-majority