Kirsten Gillibrand easily wins re-election to US Senate

Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand won re-election to a third full term Tuesday, easily defeating Republican challenger Mike Sapraicone, a retired NYPD detective, according to unofficial results.

The Associated Press called the race as soon as polls closed in New York at 9 p.m.

The Dem, 57, was first appointed to the Senate in 2009 by the governor at the time, David Paterson, after then-Sen. Hillary Clinton stepped down to become President Barack Obama’s secretary of state.

Gillibrand then won the election to complete Clinton’s term in 2010 and was re-elected again in 2016 and 2020.

The former upstate congresswoman shifted left on some policy issues such as gun control when she became senator. 

Gillibrand defeated Republican challenger Mike Sapraicone, according to unofficial results. Tania Savayan/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

She’s been a leading advocate against sexual harassment and sexual abuse of women in the military, too.

In 2017, she was the first Democratic senator to call for the resignation of then-Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, who was accused of unwanted groping and kissing of women.

She also made headlines when she said then-President Bill Clinton, a former political backer, should have resigned over the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Gillibrand made a brief, unsuccessful bid for the presidency after her 2018 Senate re-election victory.

Sapraicone, a retired NYPD detective who has headed a security consulting firm, was making his first run for public office this year.

He was vastly outspent by Gillibrand, whose campaign paid for pricey 30-second TV ads during the World Series games touting her legislative bills to help 9/11 first responders and veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.

A late October pre-election poll conducted by Siena College had Gillibrand leading Sapraicone 57% to 31%.

She will continue to serve alongside New York’s senior senator, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who was first elected to the upper chamber in 1998 after serving as a Brooklyn congressman.