It was a major matchup from the 1998 election.

Democratic Congressman Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Al D’Amato faced off in a nasty and costly campaign for New York’s Senate seat.

D’Amato, a three-term incumbent nicknamed “Sen. Pothole” for his work on constituent services, argued that he knew how to deliver for New York. He portrayed Schumer as a diehard liberal. Schumer labeled D’Amato a liar and untrustworthy.

Schumer won, ending D’Amato’s 18-year career in the Senate.

More than two decades later, D’Amato now tips his hat to his successor and praises Schumer’s ability to get things done. Unraveling his own nickname, he calls Schumer “Sen. Everything.”

“He didn’t hold back when we needed money for our sewage treatment plant and said, ‘Oh, that’s a Republican stronghold.’ He worked for it. He has it for us, he said. “I want to tell you that I salute him for that.”

“If there are people in the Republican Party who are annoyed with me for saying these things about him, screw them. I call it like I see it,” he continued.

Schumer’s rise to the Senate’s most powerful position over the past 25 years has given him increasing influence to shape legislation, allowing him to secure funding and projects for his home state.

If Republicans flip the Senate in next month’s elections, that influence is about to take a hit.

Tied to New York

Even as his power and portfolio in Washington have grown during his rise from freshman senator to Senate majority leader, Schumer remains tied to New York.

From parades through Manhattan to the annual State Fair in Syracuse, he makes a point of visiting all 62 counties of New York every year.

“I find that being on the ground and actually talking to people – real flesh and blood – is a much more effective way to both learn and understand what people need. So I’m going to keep doing it,” Schumer told Spectrum News during one of those recent swings through New York state. “I love it. I enjoy it today as much as I did the first year.”

The visits to 62 counties are a way to connect with conservative voters in the state, who are normally suspicious of Downstate Democrats. They also fit in with Schumer’s reputation as a workhorse.

Schumer says they inspire his legislative work and give him ideas for macro policy proposals in D.C. that could have tangible, micro benefits at home.

“There are local things and there are national things. Not only do I enjoy doing both, not only is it an important part of my job to do both, but one helps you do the other,” he said.

A photo of Schumer at a press conference. (Photo courtesy of Schumer’s office)

Record for New York

Perhaps few bills underscore this local-national approach more than the CHIPS and Science Act, which was intended to encourage domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

Schumer worked with Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana on the bill — an idea that was partially hatched in the Senate gym.

“I could trust him if something needed to be kept confidential during the negotiations without it breaking my trust,” Young said. “The currency of this place is trust and respect. And he never let me down.”

The law, signed by President Joe Biden in 2022, has committed tens of billions of dollars in spending to build and upgrade computer chip facilities across the country, including in New York.

In 2022, Micron announced plans to spend up to $100 billion over 20 years to establish a factory outside Syracuse — a move Schumer called “transformational.”

Days later, IBM announced their own plan to invest $20 billion in the Hudson Valley.

Corning CEO Wendell Weeks tells Spectrum News that he worked with Schumer to help make the pitch for this type of investment. “I help him along with other colleagues from all over the world, explaining why New York could be the right place for them,” he said.

As for Schumer’s dual role, Weeks said: Schumer “is – at one time – both this national figure working on issues and opportunities of global importance, but at the same time he is intensely focused on what’s happening here in New York State. ”

Another of Schumer’s priorities was building a new train tunnel under the Hudson River.

The current tunnels are more than a century old and were damaged during Hurricane Sandy, making the new tube critical to the future of the New York, Northeast and U.S. economies.

The Trump administration was accused of delaying the long-sought plan, but after Biden entered the White House, Schumer helped push through the bipartisan infrastructure bill, securing some of the last needed federal funding.

Deputy US Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg, who once served as Schumer’s legislative director, said Schumer “always kept hope alive” on the tunnel project.

“There were so many near-death experiences for that project… (Schumer) kept pushing and pushing it. And in the end, the stars aligned,” she said.

For the past two decades, Schumer has worked to keep the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo and lobbying to save the Binghamton Rumble Ponies minor league baseball team.

He helped secure $2.6 billion to build the world’s first electron ion accelerator at Brookhaven National Lab on Long Island. And he worked to meet new limousine safety standards following the fatal limousine crash in Schoraharie in 2018.

Facing tragedies including the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Superstorm Sandy, he helped direct federal aid to New York. And when the pandemic caused nationwide shutdowns, he also successfully advocated for aid to theaters and cultural centers.

The Corning Museum of Glass was among the institutions that received assistance.

“It helped us survive until our attendance returned and returned to pre-COVID numbers,” said Karol Wight, president of the museum.

One thing Schumer is particularly proud of is ending — at least temporarily — New York’s status as a “donor state” that sends more tax revenue to Washington than it returns in federal spending. That imbalance was a major frustration of the late Senator Dan Patrick Moynihan.

Over the past three years, fueled by federal relief spending, New York has ultimately received more than it sent away. However, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has warned that this trend may not last, especially as remaining pandemic-era aid dries up.

A photo of Schumer with cows. (Photo courtesy of Schumer’s office)

Role in New York politics

Despite his intense focus on New York and his high status in Democratic circles, aides say one role Schumer has not taken on is that of a power broker within the Democratic state apparatus.

While his predecessor, D’Amato, is credited with using his influence to make George Pataki the Republican Party’s gubernatorial candidate, Schumer’s focus was elsewhere.

“Being a party boss or trying to get some control over the machinations of a political party doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the kind of relationships that are necessary when you have to build coalitions, or when you have to bring home the bacon, or you have to drive policy results home,” said Mike Morey, a former aide.

Ward Todd, a former Republican official in Ulster County, praised Schumer for his willingness to sometimes put the party aside in pursuit of federal spending and projects.

“I really felt like he was our local representative, just like our congressman was. He was here so much,” he said.

This is the second part of a three-part series profiling Senator Chuck Schumer as he completes 25 years in the U.S. Senate. Part one, which chronicles the Brooklynite’s rise to Senate majority leader, can be found here. Part three, in which he evaluates his leadership style as Senate majority leader, can be found here.