1998 United States Senate election in New York

The 1998 United States Senate election in New York was held November 3, 1998 along with elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Al D'Amato was running for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Democrat Chuck Schumer in what was considered by many to be the "high[est] profile and nastiest" contest of the year.[1] This was the first election since 1950 in which a Democrat was elected to the Class 3 United States Senate seat from New York, and the first time since Robert F. Wagner's re-election in 1944 that New York had sent two Democrats to the United States Senate.

1998 United States Senate election in New York

November 3, 1998

Nominee Chuck Schumer Al D'Amato Party Democratic Republican Alliance Independence Liberal Conservative Right to Life Popular vote 2,551,065 2,058,988 Percentage 54.6% 44.1%

County results Schumer:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% D'Amato:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Al D'Amato Republican Elected U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Geraldine Ferraro, former U.S. Representative and nominee for Vice President in 1984
• Mark Green, New York City Public Advocate, and nominee in 1986
• Eric Ruano-Melendez, perennial candidate
• Chuck Schumer, U.S. Representative

Campaign

Ferraro was well known for having been the 1984 Democratic vice presidential nominee and had also run but lost in the Democratic primary in the 1992 U.S. Senate election in New York. Green had been the Democratic nominee in the 1986 election, but lost in the general election to D'Amato.

At the start of 1998, Ferraro had done no fundraising, out of fear of conflict of interest with her job hosting the CNN program Crossfire, but was nonetheless perceived as the front-runner by virtue of her name recognition;[2] indeed, December and January polls had her 25 percentage points ahead of Green in the race and even further ahead of Schumer.[3][4] Unlike her previous campaigns, Ferraro's family finances never became an issue in 1998.[3] However, she lost ground during the summer, with Schumer catching her in the polls by early August and then soon passing her.[5] Schumer, a tireless fundraiser, outspent her by a five-to-one margin, and Ferraro failed to establish a political image current with the times.[3][6] In the September 15, 1998, primary, she was beaten soundly by Schumer with a 51 percent to 26 percent margin.[3] Unlike the bitter 1992 Democratic senatorial primary, this contest was not divisive, and Ferraro and third-place finisher Green endorsed Schumer at a unity breakfast the following day.[7]

Polling

Source	Date	Mark Green	Geraldine Ferraro	Charles Schumer
Quinnipiac	September 25, 1997	25%	48%	15%
Quinnipiac	December 11, 1997	25%	48%	12%
Quinnipiac	February 26, 1998	19%	46%	18%
Quinnipiac	March 26, 1998	20%	50%	15%
Quinnipiac	June 18, 1998	23%	46%	19%
Quinnipiac	July 16, 1998	24%	39%	28%

Results

The primaries were held on September 15, 1998.

Democratic primary for New York United States Senate election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Chuck Schumer	388,701	50.84%
	Democratic	Geraldine Ferraro	201,625	26.37%
	Democratic	Mark J. Green	145,819	19.07%
	Democratic	Eric Ruano-Melendez	28,493	3.73%

Source: OurCampaigns.com, NY US Senate - D Primary

Republican primary

Polling

Source	Date	Alfonse D'Amato	Betsy McCaughey Ross
Quinnipiac	September 25, 1997	55%	26%

Other primaries

Independence

Independence Party primary for New York United States Senate election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independence	Chuck Schumer	2,562	58.04%
	Independence	Mark Green	1,852	41.96%

Source: OurCampaigns.com, NY US Senate - IDP Primary

Right to life

Right to Life Party primary for New York United States Senate election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Right to Life	Al D'Amato	3,798	63.07%
	Right to Life	Thomas Drolesky	2,224	36.93%

Source: OurCampaigns.com, NY US Senate - RTL Primary

General election

Major

• Chuck Schumer (Democratic), U.S. Representative
• Al D'Amato (Republican), incumbent U.S. Senator

Minor

• Rose Ana Berbeo (Socialist Workers Party)
• Corinne Kurtz (Marijuana Reform Party)
• Joel Kovel (Green Party)
• William McMillen (Libertarian Party)

Campaign

During the campaign, D'Amato attempted to brand Schumer as a diehard liberal, while Schumer accused D'Amato of being a liar. When D'Amato's first strategy failed, D'Amato attacked his opponent's attendance record as a member of Congress, which Schumer refuted.[8][9]

Late in the campaign, D'Amato called Schumer a "putzhead" in a private meeting with Jewish supporters ("putz" is Yiddish for penis, and can be slang for "fool").[10] He later apologized for the comment.[1]

In the last days of the campaign, D'Amato campaigned with popular Governor George Pataki, who was also running for re-election, and was also supported by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Mayor Ed Koch (a Democrat).[10]

Vice President Al Gore and First Lady Hillary Clinton personally campaigned for Schumer, as D'Amato was a prominent critic of President Bill Clinton[8] who led the investigation into Whitewater.[11] Though the Republican party was well organized, the Democratic party benefited from robocalls from President Clinton and mobilization from two big unions, United Federation of Teachers and 1199.[8]

Though D'Amato was effective in obtaining federal government funds for New York State projects during his Senate career, he failed to capitalize on this in the election.[8] Also, Schumer was a tenacious fund-raiser and was aggressive in his attacks.[11] The candidates spent $30 million during the race.[8]

Polling

Source	Date	Al D'Amato (R)	Chuck Schumer (D)
Quinnipiac	September 25, 1997	40%	43%
Quinnipiac	December 11, 1997	45%	40%
Quinnipiac	February 26, 1998	45%	41%
Quinnipiac	March 26, 1998	45%	41%
Quinnipiac	June 18, 1998	49%	37%
Quinnipiac	September 24, 1998	43%	47%
Quinnipiac	October 14, 1998	45%	46%
Quinnipiac	October 27, 1998	44%	48%
Quinnipiac	November 2, 1998	42%	50%

Results

The race was not close, with Schumer defeating the incumbent D'Amato by just over 10%.[12] D'Amato did win a majority of New York's counties, but his wins were in less populated areas. Schumer's win is attributed to strong performance in New York City. Schumer also performed well in heavily populated upstate cities, like Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, and Albany. Schumer was sworn in on January 3, 1999.

1998 United States Senate election, New York

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Chuck Schumer	2,386,314
	Independence	Chuck Schumer	109,027
	Liberal	Chuck Schumer	55,724
	Total	Chuck Schumer	2,551,065	54.62%
	Republican	Al D'Amato	1,680,203
	Conservative	Al D'Amato	274,220
	Right to Life	Al D'Amato	104,565
	Total	Al D'Amato (incumbent)	2,058,988	44.08%
	Marijuana Reform	Corinne Kurtz	34,281	0.73%
	Green	Joel Kovel	14,735	0.32%
	Libertarian	William McMillen	8,223	0.18%
	Socialist Workers	Rose Ana Berbeo	3,513	0.08%
Total votes			4,670,805	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

Per New York State law, Schumer and D'Amato totals include minor party line votes: Independence Party and Liberal Party for Schumer, Right to Life Party for D'Amato.

See also

• 1998 United States Senate elections

References

1. Rothenburg, Stuart (November 3, 1998). "Schumer topples D'Amato in New York Senate race". CNN.
2. Nagourney, Adam (January 4, 1998). "Friends Say Ferraro Will Seek D'Amato's Seat". The New York Times.
3. Waldman, Amy (September 17, 1998). "The Farewell: For Ferraro, Early Promise, Lopsided Loss". The New York Times.
4. Schumer, Chuck (2007). Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time. Rodale Books. ISBN 1-59486-572-8. p. 17.
5. Schumer, Positively American, p. 31.
6. Schumer, Positively American, pp. 18, 30.
7. Schumer, Positively American, pp. 33, 39.
8. Online NewsHour: 98 Election - The New York Wrap-up - November 4, 1998
9. Online NewsHour: New York Senate Race - October 28, 1998
10. "New York Senate race an old-fashioned street fight". CNN.
11. Nagourney, Adam (November 4, 1998). "THE 1998 ELECTIONS: NEW YORK STATE -- THE SENATE; Schumer Uses D'Amato's Tactics To Win Senate Election Handily". The New York Times.
12. "1998 General Election Results" (PDF). Elections.NY.gov.