Kirsten grew up in Upstate New York in a family with a tradition of public service. She learned about campaigning and organizing from her political powerhouse grandmother, and her mother’s legal work taught her the importance of advocating for communities who are too often overlooked. Kirsten followed their lead, first working as a lawyer, then finding her own path to public service.
That path, which started at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, led her back to Upstate New York, where she decided to raise her family and make a long-shot bid to represent her home district in Congress. In 2006, Kirsten and her 2-year-old son Theo hit the campaign trail, taking on a long-term Republican incumbent in a district with a 2-to-1 Republican majority. She waged that uphill battle with commonsense ideas to reform congressional ethics, end the war in Iraq and introduce Medicare for All – and won. She brought unprecedented transparency to her House office and championed the needs of Upstate New Yorkers.
When she became a senator in 2009, she drew on her mother’s commitment to raising the voices of those who most need advocates and gained a reputation for taking on the toughest fights in Washington. She successfully pushed for the repeal of the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy; passed the historic 9/11 health bill, giving long overdue support to first responders; made gun trafficking a federal crime after more than a decade of advocacy; delivered benefits to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits; enacted some of the most critical workplace reforms in modern history; reformed the military justice system on behalf of our nation’s service members; and brought home critical funding for New York.
Kirsten is also carrying on her grandmother’s fight to bring women into the political process, making it her life’s mission to help more women run for office. In 2011, she launched Off the Sidelines, issuing a call to women and girls to get involved, raise their voices, and put their names on the ballot. Since its creation, Off the Sidelines has raised over $12 million to help hundreds of women candidates run for office and it has helped elect some of the Democratic Party’s brightest rising stars.
Kirsten is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the UCLA School of Law. Her home is in Albany, New York, where she grew up. She and her husband Jonathan have two boys, Theo and Henry, and a labradoodle, Maple.