WASHINGTON – The members of this year’s freshman class in Congress are far wealthier than the people they represent, with dozens of millionaires joining the ranks of the House and Senate, according to a new analysis released Wednesday.

The Center for Responsive Politics calculates that 60 percent of Senate freshmen and 40 percent of new House lawmakers are worth $1 million or more, according to financial disclosure forms that provide ranges of assets held by each member. CRP, a nonprofit group that tracks money in politics, notes that only about 1 percent of Americans are worth that much.

The new figures underscore a long-standing trend of wealth accumulation in Congress, which is populated overwhelmingly with millionaires and near-millionaires.

The richest freshman by far is Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., with an average estimated wealth of nearly $95 million, according to the study. Blumenthal spent more than $2.5 million of his own money in his race against former professional-wrestling executive Linda McMahon, who spent $47 million of her own funds. The matchup was the most expensive congressional contest of 2010.

The next seven wealthiest rookies are all Republicans in the House: Diane Lynn Black of Tennessee ($49 million); Rick Berg of North Dakota ($39 million); Blake Farenthold of Texas ($36 million); E. Scott Rigell of Virginia ($30 million); James Renacci of Ohio ($28 million); Stevan Pearce of New Mexico ($23 million); and Richard Hanna of New York ($22 million).

At least a few members of the 2010 class, however, seem to have financial problems.

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For example, financial disclosures by Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., suggest that he is somewhere between $153,000 to $482,000 in the red. But aides say the negative numbers stem from an Evanston, Ill., condominium that went into foreclosure in 2009, the period covered by the disclosure form. He listed about $23,000 in income during the same year, records show.

Walsh, a tea party-backed candidate from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, bought the apartment in 2004 after a divorce for $320,500, and then took on a second $305,000 mortgage with a new wife in 2006, according to press reports.

He said during the campaign that he tried in vain to sell the apartment for more than two years before finally negotiating a foreclosure with the bank. “Frankly, the perspective I gained from this challenge helped me grow as a person and I believe will make me a better representative of working people’s interests in Washington,” Walsh said at the time.

Walsh grabbed headlines earlier this year by vowing to forgo a benefits package for House members as a statement against government-supported health insurance.

Several other members may or may not be in hock. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., all reported asset numbers that are below zero at their minimums but above that line for maximums. The ranges reported in financial reports make it impossible to be more precise about members’ net worth.

All in all, CRP calculates, Senate freshman have a median net wealth of nearly $4 million, while new House members have a median of about $570,000.

Those numbers vary only slightly from an earlier analysis of both houses based on 2009 financial disclosures. The Senate freshman are slightly richer, while the new House lawmakers are slightly poorer.

 


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