Oath of Office: Kirsten Gillibrand

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was sworn in yesterday with her husband Jonathan and their son Theo by her side.

Sandra Lee: New York's First Girlfriend



Andrew Cumo, his daughters, and Sandra Lee on Saturday at Cumo's swearing in ceremony
Photo Credits: AP

It's official! Sandra Lee is New York's first girlfriend, after Andrew Cumo was officially sworn into office on Saturday afternoon. Sandra Lee, star of the Food Network show, “Semi-Homemade Cooking”, has been dating Gov. Cumo for five years and was often by his side often while he was running for office earlier this year.

While Ms. Lee has stated publicly that she will not be a traditional first lady and will not have any staff, I won't be surprised if I saw her cooking up several projects to support her now "governor boyfriend" in his new role.

The New York Times spotlights Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Ms. Gillibrand walks along the Senate halls

Ms. Gillibrand speaks at a news conference about the 9/11 Responders bill

In an article published on the front page of the New York Times on Thursday, author Drew Angerer highlights Sen. Gillibrand rise in notoriety over the past couple of weeks. As an outspoken advocate of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" and the 9/11 First Responders bills, Ms. Gillibrand emerged as a fearless leader after their passage on Wednesday. When both of the bills were stalled in the Senate. the mother of two, would give rousing speeches and news conferences demanding for their passage. And with that people began to notice - the opening of the article reads....

The spotlight was shining on her at last, and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, the oft-overshadowed junior senator from New York, did not hold back. Pounding the lectern on the Senate floor, raising her voice almost to a shout, Ms. Gillibrand hectored, reasoned with and sought to shame her colleagues into ending the 17-year-old ban on gays’ serving openly in the military. “If you care about national security, if you care about our military readiness,” she demanded, “then you will repeal this corrosive policy.” - The New York Times

While we here at Political Girl have always recognized the talents of the 43 year old successor to Hillary Clinton, its good to know that the rest of the world is paying attention too. Go Kirsten!!!