He attended Syracuse University, receiving a law degree, before returning to Island Park and becoming involved in local Republican politics.

[1] In 1980, D'Amato defeated four-term Republican incumbent Jacob Javits in the primary election for United States Senator.

D'Amato went on to prevail in the general election by defeating Javits, running on the Liberal Party ticket, and Democratic U.S. Representative Elizabeth Holtzman.

[12] D'Amato was re-elected in 1986 and 1992, but lost in 1998 to Democratic congressman Chuck Schumer, a future Senate Majority Leader.

[13] D'Amato drew the nickname "Senator Pothole"[14] for his delivery of "constituent services", helping citizens with their individual cases.

In 1992, D'Amato filibustered a bill that would have caused the loss of 750 jobs in upstate New York by singing "South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)".

[17] D'Amato voted in favor of the bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987.

[citation needed] D'Amato was influential in New York Republican politics and was considered the "boss" of the state party during his Senate years.

He strongly supported the conservative positions of his party on "law and order" issues such as capital punishment and harsh penalties for drug offenses.

On some issues, he agreed with the opposition: in 1993, D'Amato was one of only three Republicans to vote in favor of allowing gays to serve openly in the U.S. military.

[citation needed] In 1998, the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign endorsed D'Amato for re-election over socially liberal Democratic Congressman Chuck Schumer.

[citation needed] D'Amato's 54% to 44% loss in 1998 was attributed to a lack of support among moderate voters in New York City, the site of opponent Schumer's U.S. congressional district.

[24][25] His loss was also partially attributed to reports arising from D'Amato's use of the term "putzhead" (a Yiddish vulgarity) to refer to Schumer.

[dubious – discuss][26] Shortly before leaving office, D'Amato published his book of recollections, Power, Pasta and Politics.

[36] On August 26, 2015, D'Amato endorsed Ohio Governor John Kasich for president of the United States over Jeb Bush and former New York Gov.

[37] While stating that the Republican Party needed to move past the Bush family, he credited Pataki as a "wonderful guy", but cited Kasich's experience in balancing the budget as a congressman in the 1990s and in Ohio.

He urged Trump to appoint Rudy Giuliani as Attorney General, stating: "I think one great appointment and someone who will follow the law and not bend the law as he or she sees fit as the attorney general is Rudy Giuliani..."[38] In 2020, D'Amato supported Trump for re-election against Joe Biden.