Kirsten Gillibrand gets Schumer's nod to lead DSCC

Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 6, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer announced Monday that fellow New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand would lead the Senate Democratic campaign arm for the 2026 midterm 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. I have worked side by side with Kirsten Gillibrand for nearly two decades and I know she will be an outstanding [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] Chair,” Schumer said in a statement. “With her hard work, tenacity, and discipline, Sen. Gillibrand is the right person to lead our campaign to victory in 2026.”

Gillibrand’s interest in the role was well established, and Monday’s announcement was expected. She was first elected to the House in 2006, defeating Republican Rep. John E. Sweeney in a competitive upstate seat. Gillibrand entered the Senate in 2009 after Gov. David A. Paterson appointed her to succeed Hillary Clinton, who left to become Barack Obama’s secretary of State. Gillibrand won a third full term last fall, defeating her Republican opponent by 18 points — the narrowest margin of her Senate career.

“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. Over the course of my career, I’ve won in red and purple places, and I look forward to helping the next generation of Senate candidates do the same,” Gillibrand said in a statement.

Gillibrand ran for president in 2020, ending her Democratic primary bid in August 2019. Her GOP counterpart, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the new chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is also a former presidential contender, having briefly sought his party’s 2024 nomination.

Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate, compared with 47 for Democrats and independents who caucus with them.

While the GOP holds a majority of the Senate seats on the ballot in 2026, most are in red states that Donald Trump won comfortably last fall. The party is also defending seats in Maine — where longtime Sen. Susan Collins is up for a sixth term in a state won by Kamala Harris — and North Carolina — which Trump recently won by 3 points and where Sen. Thom Tillis is seeking a third term.

Democrats are defending two seats in 2026 in states won by Donald Trump last year — in Georgia, where Sen. Jon Ossoff is up for reelection, and in Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters, the previous DSCC chair, is up for a third term.

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