Schumer Victory

They expected a tight race that would keep them awake until the wee hours. But Charles Schumer's supporters got just the opposite on Tuesday night: a relative landslide against Sen. Alfonse D'Amato that was announced at about 9 p.m. shortly after the polls closed. The Democratic congressman from Brooklyn managed to collect 55 percent of the vote against the Republican incumbent. At the Manhattan hotel where they gathered to watch returns, stunned Schumer supporters wandered around asking each other. "Is this really done?" "I was so scared we'd lose, that it would come down to a few hundred votes," said Olivera Sajkovic, a Schumer campaign volunteer from Manhattan. "This is too easy. It doesn't seem real." In a campaign marked by nastiness, Schumer and D'Amato traded insults and spent a combined $38 million, the most expensive U.S. Senate race in the nation this year. Even before Schumer was officially declared the winner of the Democratic primary, D'Amato faxed a press release saying the Brooklyn congressman was "wrong for us." Schumer responded with ads blasting D'Amato with the tag line "too many lies for too long." When D'Amato denied calling Schumer a "putzhead," then subsequently admitted it, the congressman's point seemed to be proven. "We gave them some of their own medicine," said Schumer strategist Hank Morris. But in his victor graciousness. "Sen. D'Amato and I have often held very different views," he said. "(But) he has always been a hard worker. He has always fought hard for the causes he believes in. I respect his tenacity and his family should be proud of his service." Seven weeks ago, when Schumer won the primary, he began his victory speech by saying: "Hi, my name is Chuck Schumer, and I'm running for Senate." This time around, however, there was no need for introductions. He was not just a U.S. Senator-elect, he was the man who finally whooped Alfonse D'Amato.