On December 1, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama announced Hillary Clinton, the junior U.S. Senator from New York, as Secretary of State. Clinton was confirmed and resigned her senate seat. The announcement began a two-month search process to fill her empty Senate seat. Under New York law, the governor appoints a replacement. A special election would then be held in November 2010 for the remainder of the full term, which ended in January 2013. Governor David Paterson picked Gillibrand on January 23, 2009.