As talk swirls around a potential White House bid for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, she first has to get through a 2018 re-election. On Friday, as she was nominated by fellow Democrats to run again, she pledged to serve a full, six-year term if re-elected.

"I really want to serve in the U.S. Senate," Gillibrand said. "I'm very grateful to be nominated by my party and I really want to make a difference for New Yorkers."

Asked if this meant foregoing a run for president in 2020, Gillibrand insisted she wanted to remain in the Senate.

"I'm really focused on '18, and I think all of us should, because most of the things we need to protect, we protect if we flip the House, flip the Senate, and I would like to continue to be part of that in the U.S. Senate," Gillibrand said.

Gillibrand has staked out positions over the years that have brought her national attention. Before the societal reckoning over sexual assault, she was pushing bills aimed at curtailing rape and assault on college campuses and in the military. She touted bills on the issue that have support from Republicans. And she condemned inaction in Congress on gun control, two days after a gunman at a Florida high school killed 17 people.

"I reject the notion when they say it's too soon to act," Gillibrand said. "I reject the notion that how can we prevent these crimes. If not now, then when? This is a monumental failure of leadership."

But Gillibrand has also been criticized for liberalizing her views on guns and immigration after entering the Senate in 2009 from a conservative upstate House district.

"I was wrong," she said. "I don't think I spent enough time talking to families talking to families facing issues of gun violence and talking to families suffering from horrible immigration laws."

Gillibrand is expected to face Republican Chele Farley in her re-election bid.