Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand faces challenge from security firm founder Mike Sapraicone

WASHINGTON — New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is so determined to draw attention to her bid for reelection that she is running a campaign ad on next week’s "Monday Night Football" game between the Buffalo Bills and the Jets.

Battles over House seats in New York and the presidential election have eclipsed the race between Gillibrand, who is seeking a third full term, and Republican Mike Sapraicone, a former NYPD detective and security firm owner in his first congressional campaign.

Still, the race presents voters with a choice between a veteran Democratic incumbent with a liberal voting record and bipartisan bill sponsorships, and a Republican with a long career in law enforcement and business, conservative views but little political experience.

The few polls taken in the race show that likely voters give a double-digit lead to Gillibrand over Sapraicone, with fewer than 2% supporting LaRouche Party candidate Diane Sare in her second run for the Senate from New York.

And as of the end of July, Gillibrand had raised $13.6 million and had $10.8 million on hand, while Sapraicone, who lent his campaign $250,000, had raised nearly $759,000 and had $200,000 in the bank.

"Despite some recent Republican successes, New York is still very blue when it comes to statewide elections," said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. He added there is little reason to think that "an upset is in the making."

But an Emerson College Polling survey more than two weeks ago also found that despite Gillibrand’s 17 years in Congress she has relatively low name recognition: Only half of the likely voters polled said they would vote for her, and nearly a fifth of them said they are undecided.

"Could it be a closer race than people anticipate? The answer is yes," said New York political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who works mostly with Democrats but also some Republicans. "The end of the story lies in the suburbs and how people are going to vote."

Six-year plans

In interviews with Newsday, Gillibrand, Sapraicone and Sare talked about their top issues if elected to the six-year term as New York’s junior senator.

Gillibrand, 57, a Manhattan securities lawyer for 15 years before entering politics, splits her time between her home in Albany and Washington. Her husband, Jonathan, is a special adviser at the State Department.

Over the years, Gillibrand has shifted from being a moderate House member to a left-leaning senator to collaborator now on legislation with Republican senators including Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

She is known for key bills she sponsored: the Stock Act requiring lawmakers to disclose stock transactions, funding for the World Trade Center Health Program for 9/11 first responders, health care for veterans exposed to burn pits and making gun trafficking a federal crime.

"There are a number of things that New Yorkers are still struggling with that I’m very, very intent on fixing," Gillibrand told Newsday.

Top of her list will be getting the full state and local tax deduction restored. She also wants to create more affordable housing, expand caps on prescription drug costs to everyone, preserve reproductive rights, pass a national paid leave law and regulate cryptocurrency.

She said she might become the first woman to chair the Senate Armed Services Committee and she has offered to lead the Democratic committee that raises money for Senate candidates in 2026, a post appointed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Sapraicone, 68, worked as a transit police officer and an NYPD detective for 20 years. He founded and ran a security firm, which he recently sold and moved to North Hills with his wife, Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Eileen Daly-Sapraicone.

Sapraicone said he served for three terms on the Seaford Union Free School District school board — Newsday reported he ran unopposed — and served one term as board president.

"What I learned as a school board member is to listen to people and to enjoy people's ideas and learn from them," he said.

If he wins the election, he said he would listen to the ideas of New York’s leaders.

"One of the first things I would be doing would be sitting down the governor [Democrat Kathy Hochul], sitting down with Sen. Schumer, sitting down with both sides of the aisle in Congress, and saying, 'Hey guys, what are we going to do to make this a better state,' " he said.

He describes himself as a Republican, a conservative and pro-life. As a business owner, he gave money to Republicans and Democrats.

He said he supports former President Donald Trump, but acknowledged that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election and bemoaned the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. "Law enforcement got killed. People got hurt," he said. "I do not think that's right. I don't stand for something like that."

Sare said she would reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act to separate legitimate banking functions from Wall Street speculation, would seek a return to classic education and would launch a new investigation into what really happened on 9/11.

Sapraicone's stances

Sapraicone agrees with Gillibrand on ending the SALT cap, universal background checks for firearm purchases and red flag laws to remove firearms from people at risk of harming themselves or others — but disagrees on her support for banning assault style weapons.

He also agrees with Gillibrand on the need for affordable housing, but said the question is how to do that. He said prescription drug costs are too high but opposes socialized medicine. And he questions whether businesses can afford the national paid leave bill that she supports.

His top issue is immigration. He says the border should be closed and criminal immigrants here without authorization should be deported. Gillibrand backs the Senate bipartisan immigration bill that Republicans blocked. Both support Israel.

Another thing they disagree about is Gillibrand’s presence in New York.

"I don’t care that people say she’s going to win. Nobody even knows who she is," Sapraicone said. "If she was sitting in a lineup, you can’t pick her out."

Gillibrand countered that she went to all 62 New York counties last year, has delivered funding and resources for the state and won her election in 2012 with 72% of the vote, the highest percentage in a New York statewide election.

But she said she ran no ads in her 2018 election. "So for some people, they haven’t seen an ad in 12 years, which is another reason I think my name ID is a little low," she said.

Gillibrand said she now has three ads running in New York. And she paid $30,000 to run a 30-second ad on Monday's Bills-Jets game about her support for the Border Patrol, stopping fentanyl and a law she passed to get guns off the streets.

"I’m very optimistic," she said, "that running these ads will remind people what I actually accomplish."