Kirsten Gillibrand (D) has been one of the New York State Senators since January of 2009. Senator Gillibrand has lived in Upstate New York most of her life. She currently lives in Brunswick, New York just outside of Albany with her husband Jonathan and two sons Theodore 9 and Henry 11. Kirsten Gillibrand is 46 years old which makes her one of the youngest female members of Congress. (WWW.Gillibrand.Senate.Com). Senator Gillibrand was featured on ABC’s Sunday Spotlight show last Mothers’ Day for being one of nine members of Congress who had babies during their term in Congress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gccKDg8x17w&feature=player_detailpage
Kirsten Gillibrand graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth University and later went on to law school at University of California at Los Angeles. After graduating law school she practiced law for 15 years and even helped people with legal matters that did not have the means to pay for legal expenses. (WWW.Gillibrand.Senate.Com).
Senator Gillibrand’s political career began during Bill Clinton’s Administration where she served as a member of the Housing and Urban Development Committee. In 2006 she decided to run for Congress, and in a major upset to a long time incumbent Republican she won the seat for her Upstate New York Congressional District. After serving nearly two terms in the House of Representatives, when Hilary Clinton was going to leave the Senate to take her Secretary of State job with the Obama Administration, Gillibrand was appointed to take over her seat in the Senate in January of 2009. (WWW.Gillibrand.Senate.Com). In the last election in 2012 Senator Gillibrand received over 72% of the vote and won all, but two of New York State’s counties. (http://elections.nbcnews.com/ns/politics/2012/new-york/senate/).
Senator Gillibrand was a more Conservative Democrat when she was serving in the House, but shifted her views on certain issues during her time in the Senate. According to Politico, Gillibrand kept a rifle under her bed and used to have an A rating by the NRA. After the shootings in Newtown Gillibrand has been an advocate for stricter background checks, assault weapons bans and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. Many of the NRA members in New York have a negative view of Gillibrand since she changed her stance on gun control and view her shifting views on gun control as being similar to Mitt Romney’s shift on social issues in the 2012 presidential race. According to On the Issues she changed her views to match the majority of New Yorkers. She went from an A Rating down to an F rating by the NRA in 2010. (http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/report-gillibrand-shifts-on-guns-85474.html), (http://www.ontheissues.org/NY/Kirsten_Gillibrand.htm)
Kirsten Gillibrand was one of the first members of Congress to release her tax returns and work calendar to the public and was one of the few members of Congress to vote against Congressional pay raises when most of her party supported them. (http://politicker.com/2012/07/kirsten-gillibrand-releases-tax-returns/)
Transparency and accountability in Washington was a major issue Senator Gillibrand campaigned for since she has been in Congress. This is an ad from one of her Senate races stating that she showed her tax returns, work schedule and how she voted against Congressional pay raises. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vVUbojJD4x8)
Senator Gillibrand has been involved with passing many key bills and legislation in Congress. One of them being the 9/11 Healthcare Bill which gave medical care to first responders who are now getting sick as a result of breathing in toxic fumes at Ground Zero. She has also spoken on the issue of gay marriage and repealing “don’t ask don’t tell” legislation. Although she comes from a Conservative upstate New York District she has been extremely vocal on the issue of gay marriage. According to a NY Times article “She has realized from a young age discrimination against gays is wrong”. Also, according to the New York Times, Senator Gillibrand has created a database where gay veterans tell their stories of being in the military and some even being kicked out due to their sexual orientation. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/nyregion/23gillibrand.html?_r=0)
Senator Gillibrand has even been praised by Fox News for her work on the 9/11 Health Bill. This is clip showing this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jwZqBoouZDs Senator Gillibrand was one of first senators to introduce legislation to repeal don’t ask don’t tell.” The following is a video of Kirsten Gillibrand talking about this legislation in a Senate session. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jwZqBoouZDs)
Kirsten Gillibrand most recently introduced a bill on improving how sexual assaults are handled in the military. This has recently become a major issue in the military according to a Huffington Post article. This bill still has not passed in the Senate yet, but has gotten support from a few Republican Senators like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/kirsten-gillibrand-military-sexual-assault_n_3669914.html)
Senator Gillibrand’s political career seems far from over and some even think she will run for president one day. The following Politico article mentions how Gillibrand was not viewed highly by many liberal New Yorkers when she took Hilary Clinton’s Senate seat in 2009, but she was later able to appeal to liberals and moderates alike making a Presidential bid possible. Also a spokesperson form Emily’s list, a pro –choice women’s interest group, said they would support her for a President in the future. The Politico article also mentions that she has the support from most gay Americans as well. The article states how it is possible that she will one day run for president, but not in 2016 because two other high profile New Yorkers might run; Governor Andrew Cuomo and Hilary Clinton. Also she is still very young and not known enough on a national level to run for president yet. (http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/kirsten-gillibrand-run-for-president-90706.html).
There is even a facebook to try to get her to run in 2016. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kirsten-Gillibrand-for-2016/243199862474371)
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