Kirsten Gillibrand in 2018 NY Senate race

On Government Reform: Abolish the Electoral College

On Gun Control: Inaction on mass shootings due to greed of NRA & gunmakers

Still, the pro-gun reform lawmaker offered some hope for future reform based on Tuesday's elections. "I do believe things are changing. And the reason why I believe that is because we had candidates run in this last election who ran on this issue," she said.

Still, Gillibrand foresaw more work ahead of Democrats to pass stricter gun laws. "We have to obviously flip the Senate to be able to do whatever the House could do, that common-sense reform," Gillibrand said. "But I think the country is in a place where we will fight this until we get it done because you need these basic reforms."

On Health Care: Expand Medicare and add not-for-profit public option

"I believe people should have access to the life-saving health care that they need," she said. "So I believe in Medicare for all, because if you have a not-for-profit public option, if you had a system where you could have access to the healthcare that you need, you would have the ability to have preventive care and people with pre-existing conditions would be able to get the coverage they want."

Farley argued that health care costs are spiraling out of control and that Gillibrand's proposals amount to socialized medicine. "What she is proposing means that no one will be allowed to have employer health care," Farley said. "If you like your health care, will you be able to keep it? The answer is no."

On Immigration: Central American migrant caravan is seeking asylum

"I do not support open borders, and neither do Democrats," Gillibrand countered. "What we have in this country is an immigration crisis. You have people in this caravan to seek asylum in this country. Immigration has always been a strength in this country. We are a country founded by immigrants. So we need to fix our broken immigration system. Separating children from their parents at the border is immoral, that's what this president has done."

"This is an act of terrorism," Farley responded. "It's got to stop. But my opponent, Senator Gillibrand, wants to abolish ICE, which since 9/11 is the group primarily responsible for stopping terror."

On Families & Children: Modernize obstetrics to cut increases in childbirth deaths

Over the past decade, New York had a major increase in maternal mortality: maternal deaths statewide has risen from 13.2 per 100,000 live births in 2006, to 25 per 100,000 live births in 2015, Gillibrand said.

Gillibrand's legislation, The Modernizing Obstetric Medicine Standards (MOMS) Act, would provide funding to help hospitals implement standardized best practices to prevent and respond to complications arising from childbirth.

Hospitals often lack the funding necessary for supplies and proper training to implement standards and prevent complications and deaths arising from childbirth, Gillibrand said.

On Families & Children: Women run for office because Trump demeans & devalues women

GILLIBRAND: Absolutely.

Q: Based on not demographic shifts, but just pure protest?

GILLIBRAND: Protest, anger, frustration, and determination to protect their families. Donald Trump has been accused by more than a dozen women of sexual assault and sexual harassment alone has infuriated women enough to do something, taking the risk to actually run for office.

Q: But all those things came to light when he was running as candidate. He was elected regardless.

GILLIBRAND: Fair enough. But, the response to him being elected, is this overwhelming desire of women to be heard, to be counted and to fight back against what he stands for. He demeans women. He devalues women. He's constantly trying to harm our families and our communities. And so women, when they know their family is being harmed, they will run through fire. They will do whatever it takes to protect their family.

On Immigration: Get rid of ICE; separate anti-terrorism from border control

"I think we should get rid of ICE," she said. "We should separate out two missions and do the anti-terrorism mission, the national security mission, and then on the other side, make sure you're doing-- looking at immigration as a humanitarian issue. These are civil issues."

On Foreign Policy: Opposes boycotts of businesses in Israel

On Immigration: 2007 SAVE Act: beef up border; oppose sanctuary cities

On Immigration: 2010: moratorium on government immigration raids