Kirsten Gillibrand

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Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator
from New York
Assumed office
January 26, 2009
Serving with Chuck Schumer
Preceded byHillary Rodham Clinton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 20th district
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 26, 2009
Preceded byJohn E. Sweeney
Succeeded byScott Murphy
Personal details
Born
Kirsten Elizabeth Rutnik

(1966-12-09) December 9, 1966 (age 57)
Albany, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Jonathan Gillibrand (m. 2001)
ChildrenTheodore Gillibrand (b. 2003)
Henry Gillibrand (b. 2008)
ResidenceBrunswick, New York
Alma materDartmouth College (B.A.)
University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (J.D.)
OccupationAttorney
Signature
WebsiteSenate Website
Campaign Website

Kirsten Elizabeth Rutnik Gillibrand (born December 9, 1966) is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from New York since 2009. She is a member of the Democratic Party and former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York's 20th congressional district.

In January 2019, Gillibrand announced her plans to run for President of the United States in the 2020 election.[1] She made a formal announcement on March 17, 2019.[2] She ended her campaign on August 28, 2019.

United States Senator (since 2009)[change | change source]

On December 1, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama announced Hillary Clinton, the junior U.S. Senator from New York, as Secretary of State. Clinton was confirmed and resigned her senate seat. The announcement began a two-month search process to fill her empty Senate seat.[3] Under New York law, the governor appoints a replacement. A special election would then be held in November 2010 for the remainder of the full term, which ended in January 2013.[4] Governor David Paterson picked Gillibrand on January 23, 2009.[5]

Gillibrand has moved her political positions and ideology toward a liberal, progressive position since her appointment to the Senate.[6][7] Gillibrand was an important part of the successful campaign to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".[8] In March 2011, Gillibrand co-sponsored the PROTECT IP Act, which would restrict access to web sites judged to be infringing copyrights.[9] In 2013, Gillibrand proposed the unsuccessful legislation that would remove sexual assault cases from the military chain of command; the bill was cosponsored by Republican senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.[10]

In November 2017, Gillibrand made national news when she said that President Bill Clinton should have resigned from office when his affair with Monica Lewinsky was revealed.[11]

2020 presidential campaign[change | change source]

In January 2019, Gillibrand announced that she is formally exploring a run for President of the United States in the 2020 election while on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[1] The next day, Gillibrand announced her candidacy for President.[12] She made it official on March 17, 2019. After failing to qualify for the third debate in September, Gillibrand ended her campaign on August 28, 2019.[13]

Personal life[change | change source]

Gillibrand was born on December 9, 1966 in Albany, New York.[14] She studied at Dartmouth College and the University of California, Los Angeles. Gillibrand has been married to Jonathan Gillibrand since 2001. They have two children.

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 O'Reilly, Andrew (January 14, 2019). "Gillibrand to announce presidential bid during appearance on 'Colbert' show, report says". Fox News.
  2. https://twitter.com/SenGillibrand/status/1107235330992812032
  3. Hernandez, Javier C.; Danny Hakim; Nicholas Confessore (January 23, 2009). "Paterson Announces Choice of Gillibrand for Senate Seat". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  4. Seiler, Casey; with wire reports (December 2, 2008). "From Foe to Secretary of State". Times Union. Albany: Hearst Newspapers. p. A1. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  5. Silverleib, Alan (January 23, 2009). "N.Y. Governor Names Clinton Successor". Cable New Network (CNN). Archived from the original on November 4, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  6. url=http://www.msnbc.com/the-cycle/the-flip-flopping-nature-kirsten-gillibran
  7. Malone, Clare (December 21, 2017). "What Is Kirsten Gillibrand Up To?". Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  8. "What 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' did for Kirsten Gillibrand" Archived March 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Capital New York, Steve Kornacki, December 20, 2010
  9. Bill Summary & Status 112th Congress (2011–2012), "S.968 Cosponsors", Bill Summary & Status Archived September 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Samuelsohn, Darren (July 16, 2013). "Rand Paul, Ted Cruz join Kirsten Gillibrand push on military sexual assault". Politico. Politico, LLC. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  11. Steinhauer, Jennifer (November 16, 2017). "Bill Clinton Should Have Resigned Over Lewinsky Affair, Kirsten Gillibrand Says". The New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  12. "Kirsten Gillibrand announces 2020 presidential bid". CBS. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  13. Will Weissert (August 28, 2019). "Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ends once-promising presidential bid". Associated Press. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  14. Tumulty, Karen (January 23, 2009). "Kirsten Gillibrand". Time. Time Inc. Retrieved January 27, 2011.

Other websites[change | change source]