People.com Politics Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: 'I Will Help Hillary Get Elected' The New York senator hints that Hillary Clinton will make a bid for the White House By Tara Fowler and Sandra Sobieraj Westfall Sandra Sobieraj Westfall Sandra Sobieraj Westfall is the White House and National Political Correspondent for PEOPLE. She also writes for and occasionally senior edits the magazine's Crime section and the brand's Let's Talk About It mental health series. Westfall joined PEOPLE in 2003 as Washington Bureau Chief and specializes in bringing readers inside the personal experience of political life. She twice won the White House Correspondents' Association Merriman-Smith Award for excellence in presidential reporting under deadline pressure (for her inside-the-room election night exclusives on the "snippy" phone call between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000; and the hear-a-pin-drop silent moment in 2008 when Barack Obama, holding his mother-in-law's hand, took in the news that he would be America's first Black president). Prior to joining PEOPLE, Westfall was a White House Correspondent for The Associated Press after beginning her career in Congress, where she wrote legislation on women's health, mental health, and domestic violence. A native of Rochester, New York, she received her Bachelor's degree in politics (with a certificate in Latin American studies) from Princeton University, and a Master's degree in journalism from Stanford University. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 27, 2014 04:45 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Erin Patrice O'Brien Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand isn’t positive Hillary Clinton will run for president, but the woman who took Clinton’s former New York Senate seat would like to think so. “In my mind, she’s definitely running,” Gillibrand tells PEOPLE. “Anytime I’ve ever talked to her, I’ve offered every bit of help in the world and she’s never said no.” For her part, Gillibrand, whose candid new book Off the Sidelines hits shelves Sept 9., doesn’t have her eye on the presidency quite yet. She’s perfectly content where she is at the moment. “I have young kids,” says the mom of two, when asked if she’d consider a bid for the White House. “I really like where I am.” “I don’t know that I aspire to it,” she adds. “It’s a very different job. I feel like where I am, I can accomplish a lot.” It’s her current job with the United States Senate that’s provided the fodder for her insightful – and sometimes groan-worthy – memoir. In Off the Sidelines, Gillibrand, 47, shares a sobering incident in the congressional gym, where an older, male colleague told her, “Good thing you’re working out, because you wouldn’t want to get porky!” On another occasion, she writes, after she dropped 50 lbs. one of her fellow Senate members approached her, squeezed her stomach, and said, “Don’t lose too much weight now. I like my girls chubby!” Gillibrand isn’t especially offended by her coworkers’ remarks. “It was all statements that were being made by men who were well into their 60s, 70s or 80s,” she says. “They had no clue that those are inappropriate things to say to a pregnant woman or a woman who just had a baby or to women in general.” For more on Sen. Gillibrand, including an excerpt from her new book Off the Sidelines, pick up a copy of this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday Want more stories like this? Sign up for our newsletter and other special offers: sign me up Thank you for signing up!