Gillibrand ‘not worried’ about being ‘discounted’ in 2020 race

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday said she’s “not worried” about being dismissed among the crowded field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

“I’ve always been an underdog. I’m used to it. I’ve also won every race I’ve run,” Gillibrand tweeted. “So when I say I’m not worried about being discounted now, you can believe it.”

I’ve always been an underdog. I’m used to it. I’ve also won every race I’ve run. So when I say I’m not worried about being discounted now, you can believe it. pic.twitter.com/iLh51neXiT

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) April 24, 2019

In a video accompanying the tweet, Gillibrand speaks about her experience in politics, including her first race for an upstate New York House seat in 2006. In that election, “I ran and won in a 2-to-1 Republican district,” Gillibrand says in the video. “The only person who thought I could win was my mother, and that is not a joke.”

{mosads}Despite those odds, Gillibrand notes, she won reelection in 2008 by 24 points.

“I have then since brought my state together and have had the highest vote threshold of 72 percent, higher than any presidential candidate who has run in New York state, higher than any gubernatorial or senatorial candidate,” Gillibrand says. “And I also get things done, I bring people together to actually pass legislation. So this is a marathon and not a sprint.”

Gillibrand has consistently polled in the lower end of the crowded Democratic field, hovering between zero and 2 percent in national and state polls throughout the month, according to Real Clear Politics.

Asked this week why female candidates have lagged behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden, Gillibrand again used the marathon metaphor, adding “I know that I have a vision for this country and the experience to actually get it done and a plan to get it done.”