Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20)

After winning a strong grassroots victory in 2006, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand is serving her first term in Congress.  She is fighting to reform Washington and deliver bipartisan solutions.

In Congress, Kirsten used her position on the House Armed Services Committee to fight for American troops to have adequate body armor and that service members and their families receive the support that they deserve, like increased health, housing and payment benefits. As a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition, which is focused on finding bipartisan solutions to maintaining a strong national defense and restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington, Kirsten introduced a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution in order to ban deficit spending and reduce our national debt.

Kirsten also sits on the House Agriculture Committee and she played a vital role in crafting the Farm Bill and fought to increase funding for rural infrastructure projects. Her record in Congress demonstrates her strong commitment to passing policies that will keep America safe, cut taxes for middle class families and bring jobs and federal investments back to our region. Kirsten understands that partisanship is not going to solve our country's most pressing issues, and she was recently ranked as one of the most independent-minded Members of the House of Representatives.

Kirsten graduated from Dartmouth College and University of California at Los Angeles Law School. She lives in Greenport with her husband Jonathan and two sons.

Kirsten is finishing her first term as the first woman to represent this district in Congress.  Her challenger, former New York Secretary of State Sandy Treadwell, is a self-funder and has a 17% voter registration advantage. Kirsten unseated Republican incumbent John Sweeney in 2006 despite her uphill climb against his fundraising advantage, name recognition, and partisan leanings of a district that voted for President Bush. Kirsten has been endorsed by EMILY's List.

It is Democrats like Kirsten, from Republican districts looking for change, who will help build the majority in Congress that President Obama will need. 

We must do everything we can to help re-elect Kirsten Gillibrand. You can help her campaign by contributing now. If you live near Kirsten and would like to help you can also sign up to volunteer and we will help connect with her campaign. The stakes are too high, the time is short – get involved today.