Exit Polls

The exit poll is out on Tuesday's Senate election. U-S Representative Charles Schumer has beat Senator Alfonse D'Amato. Schumer picked up strong support from women, Jews, minorities and moderates. An exit poll showed D'Amato was hurt by voters' concerns about his ethics and a feeling that after 18 years in office, it was time for a change. Asked if D'Amato is honest and trustworthy, two-thirds responded no, a third said yes. Asked if Schumer is honest and trustworthy, voters were about evenly divided. Voters also said two to one that D'Amato has been in office too long. Schumer, a Democratic congressman from Brooklyn, enjoyed a massive gender gap, with women supporting him 60-40 over D'Amato. Schumer reached out to women by portraying himself as a champion of abortion rights and had accused D'Amato of trying to conceal his opposition to abortion. Schumer also did well among Jews, capturing three-fourths of their vote. Just 60 percent of Jews supported D'Amato's 1992 opponent, Robert Abrams, who like Schumer, is also Jewish. Moderates, who make up about half the electorate, also went for Schumer, 56 percent to 43 percent. In 1992, they split 50-50 between Abrams and D'Amato. More than 80 percent of blacks and Hispanics went for Schumer. D'Amato had attacked Schumer repeatedly for missing 110 votes in Congress this year, but voters were evenly divided as to which man works harder. Asked which candidate gets things done, a third picked Schumer and a third picked D'Amato.