Representative Kirsten Gillibrand is running for Congress to help bring accountability, responsibility, and trust back to our national government. Kirsten is an accomplished civic leader and attorney in both the public and private sectors. As a wife and mother with deep roots in the region, she understands what New York's 20th District needs to meet the challenges our communities are facing and is committed to fighting for what matters to our families.

Congresswoman Gillibrand was raised in the tradition of public service - as a child, she campaigned door-to-door with her grandmother who founded the area's first women's Democratic club and was a pioneer for women's rights in the region. Kirsten promises to carry on this tradition as an advocate and reformer for New York State.

Congresswoman Gillibrand is dedicated to keeping America safe, cutting taxes for middle class families, and investing in economic development to bring jobs and investment back to the 20th District. She knows that the 20th District has lacked the strong leadership to fight for investments in our education, healthcare, and economic security for the most vulnerable in our society - our elderly and our children. She will also be a tireless advocate for our troops, who put their lives on the line for us everyday.

Throughout her career, Kirsten has demonstrated her commitment to public service. During the Clinton Administration, she served as Special Counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Andrew Cuomo. Gillibrand played a key role in furthering HUD's Labor Initiative and its New Markets Initiative, working to strengthen Davis-Bacon Act enforcement and drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure in lower income areas.

Formerly a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner, one of the premier law firms in the United States, Gillibrand works on a wide range of legal and policy-related issues and understands how to negotiate at the highest levels. Gillibrand also understands the needs of those who have no voice, representing many pro-bono cases for those in need of first-rate legal representation. She has represented abused women and their children as well as tenants seeking safe housing after lead paint and unsafe conditions were found in their homes.

A native of Albany, Gillibrand lives with her husband, Jonathan, and their four-year-old son, Theodore, in Hudson, New York. A magna cum laude graduate from Dartmouth College, Gillibrand went on to receive her law degree at the University of California at Los Angeles Law School, and served as a law clerk on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.