U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has been selected to lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm for the caucus, for the 2026 election cycle, Senate Democrats announced Monday.

“We are excited to announce Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will serve as the next DSCC Chair for the 2026 cycle working to build strong campaign infrastructure, hold Republicans accountable, and mobilize voters to win the majority for Senate Democrats!” Senate Democrats posted on X.

The junior New York senator had been pitching herself for the job quickly following last November’s election results, which resulted in the Democrats losing control of the chamber they won in 2021. Gillibrand’s New York counterpart, Chuck Schumer, leads the party on Capitol Hill’s upper chamber.

Gillibrand cited her own reelection results in 2024, as well as her work on a new coordinated campaign initiative in the state that helped Democrats pick up three House of Representatives seats in New York following disappointing results in 2022.

Tasked with securing a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate in 2026, Gillibrand argued she could apply lessons from that coordinated campaign to contests across the country in the next federal elections two years from now.

Between the 2026 and 2028 elections, there are only a handful of potential pickup opportunities for Democrats in their quest to take back the chamber, and they are in states such as North Carolina and Wisconsin that lean Republican or are true battlegrounds. All the while, the party will also have to defend incumbents in states including Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Gillibrand has been in the Senate since 2009. She serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senate Armed Services Committee and just joined the Senate Committee on Appropriations. She is also ranking member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.