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Fact check: Has Chuck Schumer ever held a job in the private sector?
Chuck Schumer in New York City on September 13, 2015
June 24, 2016
By Humberto Sanchez
Republican Wendy Long is trying her luck for the second time in four years in taking on an incumbent in the U.S. Senate. She is one of two candidates challenging sitting Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer for his New York Senate seat on November 8. (Robin Laverne Wilson is running for the seat as the Green Party candidate.) In 2014, Long ran and lost to incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).[1]
According to Schumer’s Senate website, he “has dedicated his career to protecting the middle class and helping those working to reach it.”[2]
Long—a lawyer who served as a U.S. Supreme Court clerk to Clarence Thomas and later as general counsel to the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network (now known as the Judicial Crisis Network)—believes that the policies Schumer has advocated undermine economic growth, weaken American sovereignty, and encourage a heavy-handedness in government against its citizens and that he is disingenuous in positioning himself as a champion of the middle class.[3][4][5] In an interview with Breitbart, she added, “he’s never held a job in the private sector, he’s been in public office for forty years, since he got out of college.”[6]
Is it true that Schumer has never held a private-sector job after graduating from college? Yes. Schumer’s official biography states that after graduating from law school he won a seat in the New York State House and has served in elected office ever since. However, Schumer did hold at least one job in the private sector before college.[7]
Schumer before college
Born in 1950, Schumer grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of an exterminator and the oldest of three children.[8]
A good student, Schumer was valedictorian of his graduating class at James Madison High School and won admission to Harvard, reportedly scoring 1600 on the SAT.[9][10] During high school he worked for Stanley Kaplan, who, at the time, had a small test-preparation business, which is now widely known as Kaplan.[11]
“It was a mom-and-pop operation in those days," Schumer told The Wall Street Journal in 2009, adding that he worked for Kaplan for three years while in high school.[11]
“The future politician operated a mimeograph machine in a small office in a former dentist's suite in Brooklyn,” the paper reported.[11]
"It was my first job," Schumer said in the article. "I would go get him dinner at the cafeteria."[11]
Schumer after college
After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1974, he ran for a New York State House seat and served in the chamber between 1975 and 1980.[2]
Asked about his decision to run for elected office, Schumer told The New York Times in 1998 that watching his father manage his small exterminating business impressed on him the need to find a stimulating occupation.[8]
“[I]t had a real impact on me. My father was such a decent man and he had this huge albatross around his neck, which was the business,” Schumer said.[2]
In 1980, Schumer ran for the U.S. House. He won the seat representing New York’s Ninth Congressional district. He held the seat for 18 years.[2]
He challenged incumbent Republican Senator Al D’Amato in the 1998 election. He won that race and continues to hold the seat.[2]
Conclusion
Republican Wendy Long is challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer in the November 8 election.
Long criticized Schumer for taking on the mantle of champion of the middle class when, in her view, many of his policies have hurt the middle class. In an interview with Breitbart she said, “he’s never held a job in the private sector, he’s been in public office for forty years, since he got out of college.”[6]
Is it true that Schumer has never held a private-sector job after graduating from college? Yes, Schumer’s official biography states that after graduating from law school he ran and won a seat in the New York State House and has served in elected office ever since. But Schumer has held at least one job in the private sector before college, working for the Kaplan test-preparation service.[11]
Launched in October 2015 and active through October 2018, Fact Check by Ballotpedia examined claims made by elected officials, political appointees, and political candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. We evaluated claims made by politicians of all backgrounds and affiliations, subjecting them to the same objective and neutral examination process. As of 2025, Ballotpedia staff periodically review these articles to revaluate and reaffirm our conclusions. Please email us with questions, comments, or concerns about these articles. To learn more about fact-checking, click here.
Sources and Notes
- ↑ The New York Times, "In Sole Debate, Senate Rivals Don’t Agree on Much," October 17, 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Charles E. Schumer, U.S. Senator for New York, "About Chuck," accessed June 22, 2016
- ↑ Wendy Long For U.S. Senate, "Meet Wendy and her family," accessed June 22, 2016
- ↑ The Atlantic, "Judicial Confirmation Network: Sotomayor Is A Discriminatory Activist," May 26, 2009
- ↑ The New York Times, "Blunting Ideology With Biography," August 25, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Breitbart, "NY Senate Candidate Wendy Long: Chuck Schumer ‘Is the Very Face of the Washington Establishment,’" April 1, 2016
- ↑ NPR, "Founder Of Kaplan Test Prep Remembered," August 25, 2009
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The New York Times, "THE 1998 CAMPAIGN -- THE DEMOCRAT; For Schumer, a Decades-Long Drive Toward a Quest for the Senate," October 26, 1998
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Battle of the Mean Machines: Can Schumer Beat D'Amato at His Own Game?" October 5, 1998
- ↑ U.S. News & World Report, "10 Things You Didn't Know About Chuck Schumer," July 14, 2009
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 The Wall Street Journal, "Kaplan's Tutoring Business Made the Grade," August 25, 2009
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