Yesterday, I was so proud to accept the Democratic nomination for Senate from New York at the NYS Democratic convention. It's truly been an honor to represent NY in the US Senate these past 16 months and I'm looking forward to my first statewide election in November. I hope I can count on your support.
As I said on the stage in Rye, NY yesterday, for me, being in public service is about who you fight for.
As a working mother, raising a young family of my own, I understand the way working parents are struggling to keep it all together.
As a lawmaker, I’ve fought tooth and nail against the special interests. I've worked hand in hand with President Obama, Senator Schumer, and many of you to pull our economy from the brink, begin to undo the damage caused by eight long years of the Bush Administration, and rebuild America again by putting everyday New Yorkers first.
When our opponents, including some Democrats, threatened to rollback constitutional rights for women, we fought back and won. I helped lead the fight in the Senate to defeat the harmful and dangerous Stupak amendment and I will always protect a woman’s right to choose no matter what.
When I saw our military discharging some of our best and brightest servicemen and women based merely on who they love, I fought that policy, pushed for Senate hearings and today we are closer to repeal than ever before.
This is who I fight for.
Our opponents, on the other hand, fight as hard as they can for the special interests and to maintain the status quo. They would bankrupt the country with giveaways to big oil and big insurance companies and then insist on cuts to government programs for working families.
They fight to block progress at every turn, whether it be protecting big oil from paying their fair share or blocking the extension of unemployment benefits even as their policies caused the unemployment in the first place.
The last two years were two of the worst in our nation’s history. The wounds that Republicans cut into our country were deep and far reaching. Their policies killed jobs, closed businesses, left neighborhoods boarded up, and left deficits among the deepest we’ve ever seen.
Democrats have a vision for the future; we have solutions; and we will not back down from this fight.
This is all about who we fight for and I pledge to you that I will continue to fight as hard for every New York family as I do my own.
Will you join me?
There are many ways you can get involved in my campaign:
http://kirstengillibrand.com
http://facebook.com/...
http://twitter.com/...
text FIGHT to 69736 for mobile updates
And if you can spare even $10, I would be so grateful for a contribution to my campaign. Please consider giving what you can today.
Thank you so much for your support over these past 16 months. I've really enjoyed engaging with this community and I look forward to doing so much more.
Apologies for not being able to stick around in the comments today.