U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer at the Saratoga Battlefield this year.

With his final stop this week in Columbia County pushing legislation to both help dairy farmers across upstate and boost nutrition in schools, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer completed an annual tour of all 62 New York state counties for the 27th year in a row.

“Traveling to every corner of the Empire State, meeting with New Yorkers from every walk of life, it’s what energizes me. Every year, I am reminded of why I do this tour. Every person I meet, every story stays with me and inspires my daily work in Washington,” said Senator Schumer. “I’ve always said, ‘Senators who stay in Washington and never return home are simply not doing their job.’ This year, more than ever before, visiting all 62 counties pushed me to fight even harder to help lower costs for families, protect healthcare, and deliver for New York. That is why you can always find me mixing and mingling in every crowd from Buffalo to Brooklyn to hear directly from people about what is important to them. There’s still so much work to be done – I can’t wait to get back on the road visiting all 62 counties again next year — listening to voters and delivering for New Yorkers.”

During his first Senate election, Schumer pledged to visit every single New York county every year, meeting with New Yorkers from every walk of life. Schumer is the first New York public official to start a tour of every county in the state and has proudly continued this tradition throughout his tenure in the Senate.

Schumer said the people and communities he has met with on the 62 county tour are what have helped him understand the issues facing people and have served as the foundation for major pieces of legislation he has championed from the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law where he fought to secure provisions to help close the digital divide and expand broadband for communities like Upstate NY and the CHIPS & Science Law which has brought unprecedented investment and thousands of good paying jobs to NY State.

This year on the tour, Schumer continued to fight to deliver for New Yorkers, from securing major federal funding for critical water infrastructure on Long Island to helping land major new employers, from Chobani’s major expansion in the Mohawk Valley to saving the legacy bus manufacturing plant in Plattsburgh. The senator met with communities facing unprecedented struggles from small businesses facing rising costs from tariffs across Western NY & the northern border to rural hospitals and families facing direct attacks on healthcare to learn and listen from them as he continues to fight for them in Washington. Schumer said the tour and meeting with people firsthand are essential to effectively doing his job.

Schumer concluded, “Some doubted I would be able to keep the tour going when I became Leader. But God gave me a lot of energy, and there is nothing that motivates me more than fighting for the people of New York. I may have gained a new fancy title of Senate Leader, but my two favorite titles have been and will always be: New York’s senator, and above all else, New Yorker.