One California lawmaker topped the list of Congressional millionaires in 2012 while another bottomed out as Congress’ least wealthy representative, according to a new analysis.
Personal financial disclosure data by the Center for Responsive Politics showed that for the first time, more than half of 534 current members of Congress were worth more than $1 million even as polls show the public’s dissatisfaction with them.
The median income for all Congressional lawmakers was just over $1 million.
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Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman overseeing portions of San Diego and Orange counties, boasted the highest average net worth totaling more than $464 million. Issa’s average was almost twice as high as the second Congress member on the list, Mark Wagner, who had a net worth of about $257 million in 2012.
California representatives made up five of the top-25 wealthiest members of Congress in 2012. Included on the list was Republican Gary Miller ($46 million), and Democrats Scott Peters ($112 million), Dianne Feinstein ($68 million) and Nancy Pelosi ($88 million).
"Despite the fact that polls show how dissatisfied Americans are with Congress overall, there's been no change in our appetite to elect affluent politicians to represent our concerns in Washington,” said executive director of the enter Sheila Krumholz in a statement.
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On the other end of the spectrum was Rep. David Valadao, who oversees portions of Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties. His average net worth was estimated around negative $12 million, meaning his assets were exceeded by liabilities.
The analysis said a lawmaker’s worth is difficult to gauge because disclosure forms do not require exact values.
“CRP added together the lawmaker's range of assets and then subtracted their range of liabilities,” the analysis states. “We then calculate the midpoint of the resulting range and use this figure to rank the filers.”
