Most U.S. Senators Are Millionaires

More than half of the current members of the U.S. Senate are worth at least $1 million — and seven of the 10 richest members of Congress are Democrats.

Those are two of the disclosures from the Washington, D.C.-based newspaper Roll Call’s analysis of Congress based on financial disclosure forms filed in 2010.

Of the 100 senators, 54 are millionaires, topped by Sen. John Kerry, whose worth is estimated at $188.7 million thanks to the ketchup fortune of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

As the economy stagnated in 2009, more than half of the Senate’s membership saw their fortunes grow last year, the period covered by the most recent disclosure reports.

The combined minimum wealth of the Senate was about $680 million in 2009, more than 4 percent higher than the previous year, Roll Call disclosed.

Members of Congress must reveal their investments and liabilities, but only in broad ranges rather than in exact amounts. Roll Call takes the minimum value of total assets and subtracts the minimum amount of liabilities, so an asset valued at from $5 million to $25 million is counted as $5 million.

Rounding out the 10 richest members of Congress, after Kerry, are:

2. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., $160 million. Issa founded Directed Electronics, which makes car alarms.

3. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., $152.6 million. Her husband, Sidney Harman, owns an audio products company whose brand names include Harman Kardon and JBL; he bought Newsweek magazine in August.

4. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., $81.5 million. He is a descendant of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller.

5. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, $73.7 million. His wife owns stakes in companies worth at least $50 million.

6. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., $70.1 million. Warner was a telecom mogul before running for office.

7. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., $56.4 million. Internet entrepreneur Polis sold two companies for more than $1 billion.

8. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., $55.4 million. His empire includes auto dealerships and real estate.

9. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., $49.7 million. He founded the data-processing company ADP.

10. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., $46 million. Her husband’s assets include holdings in Carlton Hotel Properties.

The “poorest” entry on Roll Call’s list of the “50 Richest Members of Congress” is Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is worth “only” $5.34 million.