Scoop: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand plots top role for 2026

• Senate Democrats are steep underdogs to protect their majority this year. If they can't, it would be the next DSCC chair's job to lead the charge in winning it back in two years.
• Gillibrand, who represents New York with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, wants to succeed current Democratic Senatorial Congressional Committee Chair Gary Peters (D-Mich.), multiple sources told us.

The intrigue: Gillibrand is known as a strong fundraiser with relationships in both New York and California, the two Democratic money hubs.

• Gillibrand is already hitting the campaign trail for colleagues this cycle. She will campaign for Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in the coming weeks, a source familiar with her plans told Axios.
• She has also been instrumental in a coordinated Democratic effort in New York to raise money for House candidates, which will help decide which party controls the chamber next year.
• Gillibrand successfully flipped a deeply Republican House district when she entered Congress in 2006.

The big picture: Schumer will have to find a replacement for Peters, who took on the rare task of running the DSCC for two election cycles and delivered impressive results in 2022.

• But Peters will be up for re-election in 2026, and he said at an event on Tuesday that he won't seek the position again.

A spokesman for Gillibrand told Axios she is focused on her "reelection campaign and on helping Leader Schumer and Chairman Peters hold the Senate."