Powerful allies help freshman senator from New York find her footing ahead of primary election

ALBANY, N.Y. — By any measure, New York’s new Democratic U.S. senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, got off to a rocky start. She was neither a Kennedy nor Clinton, just an unknown appointed by an unpopular governor.

Gillibrand, NY’s new senator, trying to build a record, gets a little help from her friends

ALBANY, N.Y. — By any measure, New York’s new Democratic U.S. senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, got off to a rocky start. She was neither a Kennedy nor Clinton, just an unknown appointed by an unpopular governor.