Soon after Kathleen Matthews jumped into a crowded Democratic congressional primary in Maryland in 2016, she received an unsolicited check. It was from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s political group, weighing in early on Matthews’ behalf.
Gillibrand’s support for hundreds of female candidates around the country has been a hallmark of her political rise. Now, more than any candidate for president ever has, she’s putting gender at the heart of her pitch to voters — a strategy that could bolster her cause with a sizable slice of the Democratic base and help her stand out in a sprawling primary. But she begins the campaign behind several other prominent women — and men — seeking the same bloc of support, and she will face strong pressure to construct a winning coalition including all stripes of voters.
"Gillibrand is running more clearly than any other candidate to the women’s base," said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster. "The risk of that strategy is that it has to be more than identity politics to win the presidency. Developing that bloc will be key for her to be competitive in the primary, but she’ll have to also go beyond that before long."
It’s a strategy in line with the moment and Gillibrand’s history: Female voters and a record number of female candidates just powered the Democratic takeover of the House in 2018, fueled by intense opposition to President Donald Trump. But she’s already experienced first-hand a polarizing reaction to her advocacy for women in the Senate, garnering passionate praise and long-lasting criticism when she called for former Sen. Al Franken’s (D-Minn.) resignation in 2017, following allegations of sexual misconduct, and said that former President Bill Clinton should have resigned after having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Matthews, who lost her 2016 primary and served as chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party in 2018, said Gillibrand’s activism has given her a powerful starting point.
“Most elected officials are reluctant to support candidates in a contested primary, but Kirsten is not afraid to stick her neck out,” Matthews said. “She’s built a network of women across the country who’ve run for office — winners and losers — who are inspired by her commitment and loyal to her.”
Gillibrand touted positions broadly popular in the Democratic Party in her announcement on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Tuesday night, calling health care a right, not a privilege, and pledging to take on “the corruption and greed in Washington” and “the special interests that write legislation in the dead of night.”
But her opening pitch was biographical: “I’m going to run for president of the United States because as a young mom, I’m going to fight for other people’s kids as hard as I would fight for my own,” Gillibrand said.
“Gillibrand has made a career out of advocating for women — sexual assault in the military, equal pay, calling for Franken to resign — so it’s all authentic to her, and I think that will resonate with voters,” said Patti Solis Doyle, a Democratic strategist who managed Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. “2018 showed us that women are pissed off and they’re fired up, and that’s a powerful base that Gillibrand can tap into.”
Gillibrand starts at the back of the pack in early polls, and she will face competition from other candidates for support among Democratic women. “There are a lot of candidates who can make a credible pitch” to female voters, said Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist who served as the executive director of the New York State Democratic Party. “I think her strength will be among suburban, white women.”
Indeed, three other high-profile female senators — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar — are likely to run, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced a campaign last weekend. They can all argue that a woman must be on the Democratic ticket.
And women, like any other big voting group, are “not a monolith,” said former Democratic Rep. Donna Edwards. “All of these potential female presidential candidates are going to have to figure out how to appeal to women with their message.”
Edwards, however, noted that she’s another example of Gillibrand’s commitment to women in politics at the expense of the Democratic establishment. Gillibrand was the only sitting senator to endorse Edwards when she ran for Senate in Maryland in 2016, ultimately losing a primary to now-Sen. Chris Van Hollen. Gillibrand has similarly weighed into other crowded primaries to boost women candidates through her leadership PAC, Off the Sidelines.
It wasn’t the first time Gillibrand stuck her neck out in the Senate. Gillibrand fought to reform how the Pentagon and universities handle sexual assault, and she became the first senator to call for Franken’s resignation — a move that alienated some Democrats, particularly in the donor community. Susie Tompkins Buell, a prominent Democratic fundraiser and co-founder of Esprit and North Face clothing brands, told POLITICO that the episode “stained [Gillibrand’s] reputation as a fair player.”
“The Franken thing is going to be a real challenge for Gillibrand,” said Edwards, who hasn’t decided who she will support in the 2020 primary. “It’s not a hurdle she can’t jump over, but she’s going to have to explain it.”
Gillibrand has pushed back against critics, writing on Twitter: “Silencing women for the powerful, or for your friends, or for convenience, is neither acceptable nor just.”
So far, it hasn’t hurt Gillibrand’s fundraising or electoral performance in New York. Gillibrand was one of only three Democratic senators who outperformed the aggregate Democratic House vote in their state in 2018, and she raised more than $27 million during the last election cycle. Much of that campaign cash went toward finding and activating younger supporters online, making Gillibrand less reliant than before on major donors.
Gillibrand’s own political start also serves as a powerful rebuke to Trump, said Democratic operatives. In 2006, Gillibrand defeated three-term GOP Rep. John Sweeney, who was also accused of domestic abuse in a police report. Sweeney’s ex-wife later told the Albany Times-Union that she was “coerced” into making a statement rebutting the report.
“She defeated a guy who was a domestic abuser in a race that nobody thought that she could win,” said Doug Forand, a New York-based Democratic consultant. “That narrative speaks well for someone who wants to take on another alleged abuser of women.”
Gillibrand’s path through the primaries could follow the track many 2018 candidates she supported to took Congress last fall — telling compelling personal stories and largely ignoring Trump on the campaign trail.
“My takeaway from the campaign trail is that there’s a whole lot of women and men who want to see women get elected,” said Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), a first-time candidate in 2018 who received an endorsement from Off the Sidelines. “That momentum for women, overall, is going to continue because this is the new normal.”