Democrat Charles "Chuck" Ellis Schumer has been New York's senior senator since 2000.

Schumer is a native New Yorker, the son of a homemaker and an exterminator. After attending public schools in Brooklyn and graduating as the valedictorian from high school, Schumer went on to Harvard. He got his JD from Harvard too, though he never practiced law, opting instead to enter the world of politics. In 1974, at the ripe young age of 23, Schumer was elected to the New York State Assembly, becoming the youngest member of the NY legislature since Teddy Roosevelt. Schumer made his way into the House in 1980 where he stayed until his first run for Senate, in 1998. He became New York's senior senator two years later, when Patrick Moynihan retired. In 2006, Schumer was appointed to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic Conference, which is the number three position in all of Democratic Leadership. Since 2009 Schumer has continued to add to his already overflowing plate: he became the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and the Chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Center - the guy sits in a lot of meetings.

In addition to the attention he's given by his senatorial peers, Schumer often seeks attention out of the chambers and on camera; Bob Dole once quipped, "the most dangerous place in Washington is between Charles Schumer and a television camera."

Though he famously visits all of New York's 62 counties every year, Schumer lives in Park Slope with his wife, Iris Weinshall, the former commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation. While Congress is in session Schumer lives, in what is sure to be a total party house, with fellow senators George Miller, Dick Durbin, and Bill Delahunt. [Image via Getty]