Democratic US Senate incumbents Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand easily swept their opponents aside last night.

Schumer thanked voters for giving him “the opportunity, the sacred opportunity to spend the next six years working for you,” and vowed to focus on the plight of the nation’s battered middle class.

With 48 percent of precincts reporting, Schumer was garnering 65 percent against Republican Jay Townsend’s 33 percent, while Gillibrand was leading Joseph DioGuardi, 62-36, in a special election to fill the remaining two years of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s term.

“I haven’t been in Washington very long but I can tell you it’s broken. The challenges we face have never ever been greater. We need a better vision for New York,” Gillibrand told supporters.

She thanked outgoing Gov. Paterson, who appointed her, and her predecessor, Clinton, “who inspired me to enter public service.”