The new president of the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee reveals the keys to recovering the majority

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says she will apply lessons learned from the 2024 elections and other recent cycles as she works to win back the Senate majority for Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections.

“If we’ve learned anything in the last few cycles, if we’re not out in the field early, talking to voters about what they care about, what their problems are at the kitchen table and then proposing legislative solutions to help them. , they won’t feel like you have their back, so it’s about a relationship with your voters,” the new chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee told Fox Information Digital in a recent interview.

Gillibrand, the veteran New York senator who was re-elected in November, was named Monday by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a fellow New Yorker, to lead the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee in the 2026 cycle.

“Electing more Democrats to the Senate in 2026 is the most important thing we can do to limit the damage from Donald Trump and congressional Republicans and do more for working families,” Schumer argued in a statement. “I have worked closely with Kirsten Gillibrand for nearly two decades and know she will be an outstanding DSCC president. With her hard work, tenacity and discipline, Senator Gillibrand is the right person to lead our campaign to victory in 2026.”

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Gillibrand pledged in a statement to “work as hard as possible to support our Democratic incumbents, recruit the strongest candidates possible, and ensure they have all the resources necessary to win. “I am confident we will protect our Democratic seats and mount strong challenges in our battleground races.” , and we are looking to expand our efforts to some unexpected states.”

The senator, while looking toward her new mission of recovering the Senate majority or, at least, reducing the management of the chamber recently won by the Republican Party by 53-47, pointed out in her interview with Fox Information Digital her own reelection and her efforts to help House Democrats flip Republican-controlled seats in the 2024 cycle.

“I made sure that, for my race and for the House elections in New York, our candidates were out in the community talking to voters two years before the election, talking to them about what mattered to them. People were worried about crime; They were worried. “They were worried about fentanyl and gun trafficking, they were also worried about the economy and the cost of food, the cost of housing,” he said.

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Gillibrand emphasized that “we really did the outreach and engagement that really needs to be done today to make sure we’re talking about the things that voters want us to work on.”

Additionally, he said Democrats can learn from President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the White House in 2024.

“President-elect Trump is a formidable candidate. “In this last election he showed that he was capable of winning over voters in states across the country, not just in red states,” Gillibrand said. “I think it’s important to learn the lessons from the last cycle.”

Senate Democrats faced an extremely difficult map in the 2024 cycle as they lost majority control. An early read of the 2026 map shows they will continue to play defense in some states, but it also offers opportunities to go on the offensive.

Among them is North Carolina, a battleground state in the southeast of the country.

“There are a number of places where Democrats can win if they get the right candidate in the community early enough to talk about the issues that voters care about. A state like North Carolina could be one where we were very close last time,” Gillibrand said. .

There is much speculation that former Gov. Roy Cooper, who just finished leading the state for two terms, could run for the Senate against incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

“There are some really remarkably good candidates in North Carolina, considering the former governor would be one of them. “That’s the kind of state I’m going to look at across the country, states where Democrats have won in the past, where they could win again if they have a candidate that really resonates and does the hard work of attracting voters from the beginning.” Gillibrand said.

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Another potential rebound opportunity for Gillibrand may be blue-leaning Maine, where moderate Republican Susan Collins is running for re-election in 2026.

“Susan is pretty tough to beat,” Gillibrand acknowledged. But he added that “if we get a great candidate, it will be a race in which we will be competitive.”

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The 2026 map also gives Republicans opportunities to flip Democratic-held seats.

In the swing state of New Hampshire, veteran Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who will take over as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is running for re-election.

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Senator Gary Peters, who led the DSCC in the 2022 and 2024 cycles, is running for re-election in battleground Michigan. So is Senator Jon Ossoff, in his first term, in the swing state of Georgia.

“The best thing about Jean Shaheen is that she is in her community every week, talking to people about the things she works on, on their behalf. “He has common sense, he is bipartisan, so I am optimistic that we will keep his job.” Gillibrand said. “I’m also optimistic about making sure Gary Peters keeps his seat in Michigan. Again, it’s extremely bipartisan. He constantly works on behalf of Michigan voters to make sure they understand that he fights for them. The same is true, I think. I would say by Jon Ossoff. He hit the ground running as a new senator last term, and I think he really resonates with Georgia voters.”