Gillibrand seeking another term leading Senate campaign arm after big wins

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced she intends to seek another term leading the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the campaign arm for Senate Democrats, following sweeping victories across the country this year.

“I am definitely going to volunteer again,” Gillibrand told Nexstar Media Group Washington correspondent Margaret Chadbourn in an interview. “I think we can build on our success for next cycle.”

Democrats gained at least seven — but possibly up to nine — seats in the upper chamber last week, including big wins in deep red states like Texas, South Carolina and Kansas. The party is hoping to add victories in Mississippi and Alaska to its tally.

The New York Democrat took over the role at the beginning of 2025.

Gillibrand said she predicted her party could win that many seats when she first took the job, back when the possibility of a Democratic majority, much less a sizable one, seemed unlikely. To win control of the Senate, Democrats needed to not only hold on to their own seats but defeat opponents in red and purple states won just two years ago by President Trump.

“A year and a half ago, I did say we could win between seven and nine seats,” Gillibrand said. “I knew that to create a blue wave, you need a few things … You need great candidates standing in red states ready to go, and you need a toxic climate led by a president who’s not listening to the American people. And I saw that coming.”

Gillibrand would need her New York partner, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to reappoint her as DSCC chair. He has not yet said whether he will do so.

The DSCC chair is the primary person in charge of helping Democrats reach a majority in the gSenate, primarily by recruiting candidates and determining where party money is spent.

Even after massive gains, Gillibrand is eyeing more in 2028.

Democrats will have the chance to go for something they have not achieved since a brief period in 2009: 60 Senate seats, a filibuster-proof majority. If the party ends up with 56 seats after this election, they would need a net gain of four to reach that threshold.

Gillibrand specifically pointed to opportunities in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Iowa and possibly even Florida, where Democrats came up just short this cycle.

“I think there’s more states we can put in play,” Gillibrand said. “There’s a lot of opportunity next cycle that we can try to build on what we did this cycle.”