Top 10 richest members of Congress?
For the first time this year, the richest member of the US Congress had a a net worth of more than $300 million. The 2012 list includes Senate and House Democrats and Republicans hailing from all over the United States.
In 2012, about half of the 50 wealthiest members of Congress reported a
lower minimum net worth than last year, which Roll Call attributes to
new mortgage disclosures.
Here is CNBC and Roll Call's
countdown of the 10 wealthiest members of the 112th Congress. Can you
guess which political party had the most members on the list – and who
grabbed the top spot?
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CNBC.com and Roll Call
10. Rep. Jim Renacci (R) – Ohio
Minimum net worth: $36.67 million
Renacci's minimum net worth remains relatively unchanged from the year before, rising just slightly to $36.67 million.
9. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) – Calif.
Minimum net worth: $41.78 million
Feinstein's minimum net worth dropped about $3.6 million to $41.78 million in 2011.
8. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) – N.J.
Minimum net worth: $56.8 million
Lautenberg's minimum net worth rose about $2 million in 2011, to $56.8 million.
7. Rep. Jared Polis (D) – Colo.
Minimum net worth: $72.09 million
Polis added at least $6 million to his fortune last year to arrive at a minimum net worth of $72.09 million.
6. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) – Conn.
Minimum net worth: $79.11 million
Like many on Roll Call's list, much of Blumenthal's minimum net worth of $79.11 million comes from the family of his spouse. His wife, Cynthia Blumenthal, is the daughter of New York real estate magnate Peter Malkin.
5. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) – W.Va.
Minimum net worth: $83.08 million
Even multimillionaires have mortgages.
Rockefeller took out a loan of at least $1 million on a New York condominium in 2011 and disclosed it on the liabilities section of his annual disclosure form. Though in prior years such a purchase would have likely gone unnoticed, lawmakers were required to report mortgages on personal residences for the first time this year under new disclosure provisions in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK, Act.
4. Sen. Mark Warner (D) – Va.
Minimum net worth: $85.81 million
Virginia's junior senator increased his wealth by nearly $10 million from the year before, reporting a minimum net worth of at least $85.81 million in 2011.
3. Rep. Darrell Issa (R) – Calif.
Minimum net worth: $140.55 million
Issa's minimum net worth dropped by about $80 million from 2010 to 2011, dropping him one spot on the list, to third place.
2. Sen. John Kerry (D) – Mass.
Minimum net worth: $198.65 million
Kerry has been a mainstay on Roll Call's list of the wealthiest in Congress for more than 15 years, due in large part to the assets of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the widow of Sen. H. John Heinz III (R) of Pennsylvania of the Heinz ketchup fortune.
1. Rep. Michael McCaul (R) – Texas
Minimum net worth: $305.46 million
McCaul tops the list for the second year in a row with a reported minimum net worth that broke the $300 million mark.