76 Richest Members Of Congress

Sheldon Whitehouse is a third-term senator from Rhode Island who was re-elected by about 30 points in 2012.

Rep. Steve Cohen has served six terms as the congressman from Tennessee’s 9th District, which is in the southwest corner of the state. Cohen started his legal practice in 1978 after serving as a legal adviser for the Memphis Police Department.

Rep. Arkansas Republican French Hill is a three-term congressman who has served the state’s 2nd District, in the central part of the state, since 2015. Before his election to Congress, Hill was a commercial banker and investment manager. He was founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Little Rock-based Delta Trust & Banking Corp.

Richard C. Shelby of Alabama is in his sixth term as senator from Alabama and is the fifth-ranked Republican in seniority. He serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Prior to his election to Congress, Shelby was an attorney.

Before entering politics, two-term Sen. Joe Manchin worked at his family’s furniture store, managed a carpet store, and then joined a coal brokerage.

The first-term senator from North Carolina was an executive at PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM. Sen. Thom Tillis spent his 22-year private-sector career in technology and management consulting before he entered Congress in 2015.

Rep. Chellie Pingree is in her sixth term as congresswoman who represents Maine’s 1st District, which is the southeastern section of the state. Pingree and her husband, Charlie, operated a small farm for several years. In 1981, she started North Island Yarn, a business employing local knitters, and opened a retail store that sold knitting kits and pattern books nationwide. Pingree sold the business in 1993 and now co-owns a bed & breakfast and restaurant in North Haven.

Eight-term Rep. Jeff Fortenberry represents Nebraska’s 1st District, which is in the eastern part of the state. Prior to his election, Fortenberry worked as a publishing industry executive in Lincoln.

The first-term senator from South Dakota Mike Rounds made his wealth by running insurance and real estate businesses with locations all over the state.

Four-term Rep. Markwayne Mullin serves Oklahoma’s 2nd District in the eastern part of the state. Before serving in Congress, Mullin dropped out of college to manage the family’s plumbing company, building it into a regional business. His family owns companies in construction and property development.

Neal Dunn represents the 2nd District in Florida, which covers most of that state’s panhandle. Before he was elected to Congress in 2016, Dunn was a medical doctor who worked in Panama City and founded the Advanced Urology Institute, a 45-physician practice with more than 400 employees. He also was the founding chairman of Summit Bank, based in Panama City.

Roger Marshall is in his second term as the congressman representing the 1st District of Kansas, which encompasses mostly the western part of the state. After receiving his medical degree and following his residency, Marshall returned to Kansas and established his medical practice in the town of Great Bend.

Angus King is the only independent representative on this list, though he caucuses mostly with Democrats. The second-term senator and former governor returned to practicing law in 2003 after he finished his term as governor.

Vicky Hartzler is serving a fifth term as congresswoman representing the 4th District in western Missouri. Hartzler and her family live on a working farm in Cass County. Her family also owns farm equipment company Heartland Tractor.

Ami Bera is serving his fourth term as representative of California’s 7th District, which covers the state capital of Sacramento. He is the longest-serving Indian American currently in Congress. Bera worked as a medical doctor before choosing to run for elective office.

Rep. Denny Heck is in his fourth term serving the 10th District of Washington state, which includes the state capital of Olympia. Prior to his election to Congress, Heck expanded several small businesses, including one that focuses on workplace education. He also invested in the digital entertainment company Real Networks, which streams media on the Internet.

David B. McKinley represents the 1st District of West Virginia, which is in the northern part of the state. The Republican, now in his fifth term, is a certified professional engineer who worked in the construction industry before he entered Congress. McKinley founded the architectural and engineering company McKinley & Associates.

Rep. Debbie Dingell is serving her third term as representative of Michigan’s 12th District, which is located in the southeast corner of the state. Dingell worked at General Motors for more than 30 years where she was president of the GM Foundation as well as a senior executive responsible for public affairs.

Jackie Speier is in her sixth full term in Congress and now represents California’s 14th District, which includes San Mateo County. Speier is of counsel at the law firm of Hanson Bridgett LLP in San Francisco. She is also a co-author of the book “This Is Not the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down.”

Republican James Inhofe began his congressional career in the House of Representatives in 1987, serving Oklahoma’s 1st District. He has been a senator since 1994. Inhofe also worked as an independent businessman for three decades and was the president of Quaker Life Insurance Company.

Democrat Earl Blumenauer has represented Oregon’s 3rd District for nearly two and a half decades. Blumenauer has a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School, and before becoming a legislator, he worked as the assistant to the president of Portland State University for seven years.

Before representing Washington’s 4th District on Capitol Hill in 2015, Republican Dan Newhouse served as the director of Washington state’s Department of Agriculture.

Democrat Rosa DeLauro has represented Connecticut’s 3rd District — which covers the central part of the state along the coast — since 1991. DeLauro is married to political strategist and best selling author Stanley Greenberg.

Lisa Blunt Rochester has represented the state of Delaware since going to Capitol Hill in 2017. Blunt Rochester previously held several high ranking positions in the Delaware state government, including secretary of labor and was previously married to a former NBA player.

After representing Oregon’s 3rd District for 15 years, Ron Wyden has represented Oregon as a senator since 1996. Wyden’s wife, Nancy Wyden, owns the famous Strand Bookstore in New York City.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in her second term as senator from Massachusetts, is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Warren received an advance of about $300,000 for her book “This Fight Is Our Fight,” published in April 2017. She is an emeritus professor at Harvard University. Warren and her husband Bruce, also a law professor at Harvard, have homes in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in Washington, D.C.

Sen. Chris Coons is in his first full term as senator from Delaware after defeating Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell by almost 17 points in a special election. In the private sector, Coons was an attorney with Delaware-based manufacturing company W.L. Gore & Associates.

A medical doctor and military veteran, Rep. Ralph Abraham is serving in his third term as a congressman from Louisiana. Abraham graduated from the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine and practiced for 10 years before he got his medical doctor degree

Rep. Kenny Marchant of Texas is serving his eighth term in the House of Representatives. Prior to his election to Congress, Marchant founded a construction and home building business.

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, serving his third term as senator, is the 15th-highest ranking Republican senator in the Senate. In the private sector, Alexander co-founded a law firm in Nashville as well as a chain of children’s daycare centers.

Rep. John Curtis is serving his first full term as a congressman from Utah. Curtis was the former mayor of Provo, Utah, and a small business owner.

Sen. Jacky Rosen, serving her first term as senator from Nevada after serving as a congresswoman, is a former computer programmer. Rosen worked for companies such as Citibank and Southwest Gas Company before she was elected to Congress.

Rep. Susan W. Brooks is serving her fourth term in Congress. In the private sector, she practiced law at the Indianapolis firm of Ice Miller. Brooks also worked as a criminal defense attorney for Indianapolis-based law firm of McClure, McClure and Kammen.

Rep. Ann Wagner held management posts at Hallmark Cards and Ralston Purina before she was elected to the first of her four terms as a congresswoman from Missouri.

The eight-term congressman from Texas, Rep. Michael Conaway is a certified public accountant who worked at Price Waterhouse and with George W. Bush as the chief financial officer for Bush Exploration.

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer is a six-term congressman from Missouri who operates a 160-acre farm and also has been in banking and insurance.

Rep. John Yarmuth is in his seventh term in Congress and represents the 3rd District of Kentucky that includes Louisville. Yarmuth founded several publications, including Louisville Today, and the Louisville Eccentric Observer Weekly (LEO). He also edits and owns Kentucky Golfer.

Sen. John Kennedy is in his first term as senator from Louisiana. In the private sector, Kennedy was an attorney and partner in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans law firm of Chaffe McCall. He has also written books on constitutional law and product liability.

Sen. Michael Bennet first became senator in 2009 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Kenneth Salazar. Bennet would be elected one year later. He is currently serving his second term as senator from Colorado. In the private sector, Bennet was managing director at Anschutz Investment Co. Bennet is currently campaigning to be the Democratic nominee for President.

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is serving his second term in Congress, representing the 15th District in the southern part of Texas. He is the founder of the law firm of V. Gonzalez & Associates.

The first-term Montana senator won by almost 18 points in 2014 after serving one term in the House of Representatives. Sen. Steve Daines served in a management position at Procter & Gamble, worked in his family’s construction company, and was a vice president at a cloud-computing startup that was eventually bought by Oracle in 2012.

The Ohio legislator was elected to the Senate eight years ago after serving in the house from 1993 to 2015. Sen. Rob Portman’s family founded and expanded a material-handling distributor. Much of his money is held in bonds and mutual funds, though he has real estate holdings worth about $1.4 million. His largest investment is an interest in Lebanon House Inc., which owns the Golden Lamb Inn, the oldest continuously operating company in Ohio.

Prior to his election as representative for the 11th District outside of Chicago, Rep. Bill Foster was a physicist who made his wealth by starting, with his brother Fred, Electronic Theatre Controls, which provides lighting for entertainment locations. Foster sold his stake in the business before he ran for Congress. He is serving his fifth term as congressman.

Sen. Johnny Isakson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998, and to the U.S. Senate in 2004. More than half of Isakson’s estimated wealth is held in a blind trust he established in 2012. He also owns several rental properties around the University of Georgia campus.

In August 2019, Isakson announced he would resign from his senate seat at the end of the year due to health problems.

First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984, Mitch McConnell is one of the longest serving members of Congress. McConnell was elected Senate majority leader by Republicans in 2014. Approximately half of McConnell’s estimated wealth comes from a $5 million gift from his father-in-law in 2008. Other major assets include several Vanguard index funds he holds jointly with his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Chao also collected a salary during her tenure on the boards of Wells Fargo and News Corp.

Rep. Mike Kelly was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. The main source of Kelly’s wealth comes from the eponymous Mike Kelly Chevrolet Cadillac dealership, which he bought from his father and eventually expanded to include a Kia and Hyundai dealership. Today, Kelly and his wife’s financial filings include profits from the dealership and over 200 stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

Sen. Ron Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. He built much of his wealth from Pacur, a specialty plastics company he co-founded with his brother-in-law in 1979. During his initial campaign and subsequent re-election campaigns, Johnson has touted his entrepreneurial credentials, highlighting the fact that he is the only manufacturer in the Senate. Prior to his first term, the Johnson campaign announced that he had liquidated all of his stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to avoid any conflict of interests.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, serving New York’s 14th Congressional District from 1993 to 2013 and New York’s 12th Congressional District from 2013 to the present. Maloney’s assets include a townhouse in the Upper East Side, a six-unit rental property in Virginia Beach, and a partial stake in a rental property in Jamaica. Maloney is the widow of Clifton Maloney, who founded and ran the successful investment firm C.H.W. Maloney & Co. from 1981 until his death in 2009.

Rep. Nita M. Lowey has served in Congress since 1989, and currently represents New York’s 17th District — located in southern New York State, just north of New York City. Lowey is the current chair of the Committee on Appropriations.

Lowey is married to a prominent Wall Street attorney, who co-founded his own firm that specializes in securities and merger litigation. With a total estimated net worth just shy of $11 million, Lowey is one of only a handful of women to rank among the 25 richest legislators.

Fred Upton has been in Congress since 1987 and has served Michigan’s 6th District — located in the southwest corner of the state — since 1993. Much of Upton’s wealth is old family money, as his paternal grandfather patented an early iteration of the modern electric washing machine and founded a company that is now home appliance giant Whirlpool.

First elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1978, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner is currently the second longest serving member of the House of Representatives. He is the great grandson of one of the key figures in the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, in which he once owned more than $2 million worth of stock. Today, Sensenbrenner’s stock portfolio includes holdings in more than three dozen companies, including Pfizer, Apple, AT&T, and Verizon.

In September 2019, Sensenbrenner announced he would not seek reelection in the 2020 election.

Republican Rick Allen has represented Georgia’s 12th District since taking office in 2015. Allen’s net worth of $11.7 million is largely self-made. Shortly after graduating from college, he founded his own commercial building construction company, R.W. Allen & Associates, which operates in six states and is headquartered in Augusta, which is within the district Allen represents.

Coming from a long line of Tennessee politicians, Jim Cooper served Tennessee’s 4th District from 1983 through 1995 and District 5 since 2003. In addition to serving his constituency, Cooper teaches part time at Vanderbilt. The bulk of his estimated net worth of $12.3 million, however, comes from Cooper Brothers Land Co., a real estate firm the congressman owns with his two brothers.

Lloyd Doggett has served in Congress since 1995 and currently represents Texas’s 35th District. Before being elected to Congress, Dodgett was as a state senator — after taking office at just 26 years old. He also sat on the state Supreme Court and maintained a successful corporate law practice. Dodgett has a stake of at least half a million on the Whole Foods grocery store chain, which is headquartered in Austin, a city that falls partially with the district he represents.

Republican Earl Carter has represented Georgia’s 1st District since taking office in 2015. Carter started a pharmacy chain — Carter’s Pharmacy, Inc. — in the Savannah area he now represents. Carter recently sold more than $1 million of his stake in his company, and he owns a more than $5 million stake in an index fund.

Rep. Brad Schneider served Illinois’ 10th District from 2013 through 2015 and began serving once again in 2017. Though Scheider founded a consulting firm, much of his wealth comes from his wife, Julie Schneider, whose family started what was the largest privately owned insurance brokerage in Chicago.

Jim Risch has served Idaho on Capitol Hill as Senator since 2009. The majority of Risch’s $15.6 million net worth is tied up in real estate. Before he was a senator, Risch used his income from his private attorney practice to buy large swaths of farming and ranching land in the southwestern part of the state.

First-term Sen. David Perdue of Georgia earned his wealth as a financial turnaround specialist for struggling companies. He ran Sara Lee Corp.’s Asia unit and was an executive with Haggar Clothing and footwear company Reebok. Perdue was also chief executive officer of Dollar General and set up its sale to investors.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, represents California’s 12th District, which includes San Francisco. She has amassed her wealth through the business activities of her husband, Paul Pelosi. He owns and operates California real estate and venture capital investment and consulting firm Financial Leasing Services, whose holdings include a Napa Valley vineyard worth about $5 million. Paul also has invested in Apple, Disney, Comcast, and Facebook.

Sen. John Hoeven built his wealth by working in banking in North Dakota. He got his start in banking as a bookkeeper at First Western Bank & Trust in Minot, which was bought by his father. Hoeven eventually became president of Westbrand Inc. Bank Holding Co. and retains at least $5 million in company stock. He holds another $1 million in funds in a personal account at First Western. He also has investments in mineral rights and oil wells in North Dakota.

South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman worked as an executive at Warren Norman Co., a development company started by his father that builds office parks, commercial buildings, and residential housing. The second-term congressman representing South Carolina’s 5th District in the northern part of the state keeps most of his wealth in real estate holdings

Grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, Joseph Kennedy is the only member of the political dynasty to be currently serving on Capitol Hill. Kennedy’s fortune comes from old family money — specifically that of his great-grandfather, who was a businessman, and his great-great-grandfather, who was a co-founder of Standard Oil. Kennedy has served Massachusetts’ 4th District since 2013.

Republican Francis Rooney was well known in Republican Party circles long before he took office in Florida’s 19th District in 2017. Using his fortune from his family business, Manhattan Construction Group, Rooney donated enough to the GOP to earn an ambassadorship during the George W. Bush administration. Manhattan Construction Group’s lucrative contracts have included both Bush presidential libraries as well as the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.

Ro Khanna has served California’s 17th District, which covers much of Silicon Valley, since 2017. Before being elected, Khanna worked as an economist and intellectual property lawyer. Much of his wealth is from his marriage to Ritu Khanna, whose father works as an executive at investment firm Mura Holdings

Repiblican Roger Williams represents the 25th District in Texas — a strip of land that extends from Fort Worth down to Austin. Williams’ wealth comes from multiple auto car dealerships in northern Texas and some valuable real estate. Currently, the top industrial contributors to Williams’s campaign are oil and gas and automotive.

Democrat Suzan Delbene has represented Washington’s 1st District since 2012. Prior to being elected to office, she made much of her wealth in the private sector. Before becoming vice president of mobile connections marketing for Microsoft — which is headquartered in her district — Delbene launched two successful internet startups. Now married to another Microsoft executive, she is worth an estimated $28.4 million.

Donald Beyer serves Virginia’s 8th District, located west and south of Washington D.C. along the Potomac River. He is worth an estimated $31.2 million. Beyer made his fortune running several car dealerships around Washington D.C. Currently, used car information website Carfax is Beyer’s top campaign contributor.

Scott Peters, who has represented California’s 52nd District located just north of San Diego since 2013, is worth an estimated $32 million. Much of his wealth is from investments he made with his earnings from years as a corporate tax attorney. Peters’ wife, Lynn Gorguze, also has a small fortune from serving as president and CEO of private equity firm Cameron Holdings since 1993.

Republican Paul Mitchell, elected to serve Michigan’s 10th District in 2016, is worth an estimated $37.7 million. He made much of his wealth as a corporate executive, first at Chrysler in 1985 and then as CEO of Ross Education, a health industry training firm. Mitchell spent $3.6 million of his own fortune to win the seat.

Though he is a Tennessee native, Trey Hollingsworth has served in Indiana’s 9th District since taking office in 2017. Hollingsworth’s wealth is largely from his father’s Knoxville-based company, Hollingsworth Capital Partners, which refurbishes old, often abandoned factories and industrial buildings. Hollingsworth launched his campaign in his adopted home state of Indiana with over $3 million of his own money.

Worth an estimated $58.5 million, California Sen. Diane Feinstein is by far the wealthiest woman on Capitol Hill. Feinstein is married to Richard Blum, founder of Blum Capital, an equity investment firm that has stakes in multiple industries, including health care, media, retail, finance, and transportation. Feinstein herself has a $25 million plus stake in Carlton Hotel Properties. She has represented the most populous state in the Senate since taking office in 1992.

Worth an estimated $70 million, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut is wealthier than all but a handful of other lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Like several other lawmakers on this list, Blumenthal married into his vast fortune. In 1982, after serving for five years as a U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, Blumenthal married Cynthia Malkin, daughter of Manhattan real estate mogul Peter Malkin.

Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida’s 16th District is worth an estimated $73.9 million. Buchanan earned much of his fortune through car dealerships and through his involvement in charter jet and yacht leasing. Before the success he found in Florida, Buchanan founded American Speedy Printing in Michigan in the mid-1970s, growing the business to 730 locations across 44 states before declaring bankruptcy.

Mark Warner, who has served on Capitol Hill since taking office in 2009, is the wealthiest senator on this list. Warner made much of his wealth as a venture capitalist. He also had businesses in energy and real estate and had an early stake in the wireless service company Nextel, which was eventually bought by Sprint. Today, much of Warner’s fortune — estimated at over $90 million — is held in blind trusts.

Republican Michael McCaul is one of only a handful of legislators on Capitol Hill with an estimated net worth of over $100 million. McCaul, who represents Texas’s 5th District, amassed much of his wealth through his marriage to Linda McCaul, whose father founded Clear Channel Communications. The company, now called iHeartMedia, is a $6.3 billion company. iHeartMedia is a leading contributor to McCaul’s reelection campaign.

Republican Greg Gianforte has represented the state of Montana on Capitol Hill since taking office in 2017. Gianforte amassed his fortune after founding a software company in the mid 1980s, which he eventually sold to McAfee Associates. In 1997 Gianforte founded RightNow Technologies, a cloud-based customer service program, which was bought for over $1 billion by Oracle Corp in 2012.