If Chele Farley is not a name you are familiar with, it may be because the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate is struggling to break through to voters with her message.

But her race against New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand suddenly burst into the spotlight after Gillibrand pulled out of a long-planned debate against Farley that was supposed to have been hosted by NY1.

"I think the voters of New York deserve to hear, specifically, what the differences are between our two platforms," Farley said Friday.

Running for U.S. Senate as a Republican in "blue" New York is tough. But Farley, in an interview conducted before NY1's debate was canceled, said she has a compelling case to make.

"My opponent, Kirsten Gillibrand, has been in Washington and she's focused on running for higher office, running for president, and she has forgotten the people of New York," the Republican said.

Gillibrand is crisscrossing the country to campaign for other politicians, and she is considered a likely candidate for the White House in 2020 to try and take on President Donald Trump.

"Right now, we have a senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, who cannot work with the president," Farley said. "How is that going to be helpful for New York? It's not."

Farley is campaigning for office for the first time. She lives in Manhattan and works in finance. Unlike Marc Molinaro, the Republican nominee for governor, Farley supports Trump.

"I don't agree with all of his language," she said.

When NY1 sat down with Farley, Trump had recently called Stormy Daniels "Horseface," the latest example of his long history of using sexist language to degrade women. Farley did not denounce the remark; she said she was paying attention to the president's policies.

"I am focused on the actual actions, rather than on the words," Farley said. "The superficial doesn't matter to me. Let's actually get things that are going to be good for New York."

Farley is pushing her own policy agenda that she says will be good for New York, including fighting for the state to receive more money from the federal government. This past year, New York sent 24 billion more dollars to Washington than it got back in federal spending.