The Hill this week tallied the wealthiest lawmakers in Congress — and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) didn’t top the list.
The most wealthiest lawmaker, though, shares Kerry’s trait of being married to money. Worth $290.5 million is Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), is the son-in-law of Lowry Mays, the founder of Clear Channel Communications.
Kerry came in second with a net worth of $198.8 million — a jump of $5 million in 2011 to keep his position as the wealthiest Democrat in Congress.
Coming in third with $140.6 million is House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who was No. 2 on last year’s list but saw his net worth drop nearly $80 million in 2011. Issa founded Direct Electronics, the nation’s largest manufacturer of car security systems, in 1982.
Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), another entrepreneur who started American Information Systems while in college, came in fourth at $91.1 million — a $25 million jump from 2011.
Rounding out the top five is another Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner (Va.). His $85.9 million net worth was buoyed by $9 million in gains in 2011. The venture capitalist was an early investor in Nextel.
Out of the top 50 richest members, 31 are Republican. Thirty-one of the richest come from the House.
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