Senator Kirsten Gillibrand working on re-election

As midterm elections approach, New York State (NYS) Senator Kirsten Gillibrand may have to first run in a primary election against former Tennessee Congressman Harold E. Ford, Jr.

President Barack Obama has reaffirmed his support for Sen. Gillibrand when the election takes place on Nov. 2.

Sen. Gillibrand was born and raised in upstate New York. She now lives with her husband and two sons. She was appointed by Governor David Paterson in 2009 to fill the seat of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Sen. Gillibrand also serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Ford has not officially announced that he will be running for NY Senate, but he said he will give himself 30 days to decide whether or not to challenge the senator according to The New York Times.

When asked about Ford, Sen. Gillibrand stated, "I welcome the challenge. I'm going to run on my record of fighting for women's rights and gay rights. For them, they're welcome to run,” according to National Public Radio (NPR).

On Feb. 12, The New York Times reported that the senator’s seat is also being considered by  Mortimer Zuckerman, a real estate tycoon and owner of The New York Daily News. Zuckerman believes that his background as an outsider to government will garner him public support, but he has not officially decided to run yet.

Meanwhile, Sen. Gillibrand has been working on legislation regarding Solar Energy, speeding up the visa process for Haitians with families in the U.S., Job Creation Tax Credit and saving Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) refugees among other initiatives. Her top legislative priorities are job creation and economic development.

“All I know about Gillibrand is that she was a lawyer for cigarette companies. All I hear about is her campaign,” senior Catherine Paitsel said.

“There are too many elections in this country and they distract from actually pushing through any legislative changes,” Paistel added.

Despite her past, Sen. Gillibrand has pushed for some of the harshest tobacco regulation laws and would like to see cigarettes taxed more heavily. Sen. Gillibrand and Sen. Chuck Schumer recently co-sponsored Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT) of 2009, which would end illegal trafficking of cigarettes to minors.

This past November, Sen. Gillibrand teamed up with dozens of women’s leaders to protest the Anti-Choice Stupak amendment of the healthcare reform bill. “Without proper coverage, these women will be forced to return to dangerous back-alley abortions. Women and girls deserve better,” Sen. Gillibrand said.

On Feb. 9, the Sen. Gillibrand praised the First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let's Move” campaign– a program designed to put American children on a path to a healthier future. She called child obesity a “crisis that our nation must urgently address.”

Sen. Gillibrand has also unveiled a plan to help middle class workers save for retirement. She pointed to the economy to explain why it has become hard for Americans to save for their future. She announced that, “every hardworking New Yorker deserves the opportunity to retire and feel safe in their golden years. To do that, we have to provide more opportunities for people to plan ahead and save for their retirement.”

Among Sen. Gillibrand's other priorities is education and the soaring costs of attending college in the U.S. Gillibrand claims that, “investing in education is the most important investment we can make.” In 2009 she sponsored the College Affordability Tax Relief Act to allow families to deduct up to $10,000 of the cost of college tuition from their taxes, similar to what Pres. Obama proposed in his State of the Union address.