While there is no income requirement to enter politics, the politicians on this list are all multimillionaires. Only three are billionaires, including former President Donald Trump, but many have fortunes that continue to amass.
GOBankingRates looked for the richest US politicians in terms of net worth using a variety of sources. To be qualified the politician had to currently hold a statewide or federal level office or currently be running for one of those offices. Some are from the House of Representatives, others serve in the Senate and some recently left office. But they all have one thing in common - two commas in their net worths.
25. Oklahoma: Rep. Kevin Hern
Kevin Hern net worth: $26,800,000
Party affiliation: Republican
Representative Kevin Hern has been a representative in Oklahoma since 2018. He built his wealth in areas such as banking, real estate, manufacturing and sports.
24. North Carolina: Rep. Kathy Manning
Kathy Manning net worth: $27,200,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
Rep. Kathy Manning represents North Carolina's Sixth Congressional District. She sits on several committees, including the Education and Labor Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee.
23. Virginia: Rep. Don Beyer
Don Beyer net worth: $29,800,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
The 36th Lieutenant governor of Virginia is in his fifth term as the U.S. Representative of Virginia's 8th District. He serves on Congress' Joint Economic Committee, and the House Committee on Ways and Means.
22. Maryland: Rep. David Trone
French Hill net worth: $32,900,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
Maryland Representative David Trone was elected in 2018 to Maryland's Sixth Congressional District. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee, Budget Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee. He and t his wife, June opened a beverage store when he was in graduate school, which has grown to over 200 stores in over 25 states and 10,000 employees nationwide.
21. California: Rep. Jay Obernolte
Darrell Issa net worth: $39,300,000
Party affiliation: Republican
California representative Jay Obernolte has served on the committees on Natural Resources, Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology and as the freshman class representative to the House Republican Policy Committee. He has made his wealth as a video game developer and business owner.
20. Florida: Rep. Vern Buchanan
Vern Buchanan net worth: $44,000,000
Party affiliation: Republican
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan has served in Congress since 2013. He's co-chair of the bipartisan 30-member Florida congressional delegation and Vice Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees important topics such as: tax policy, international trade, health care, welfare, Social Security and Medicare. Buchanan also serves as Chairman of the Health Subcommittee. He has made most of his money through automotive dealerships he owns.
19. Washington: Rep. Suzan DelBene
Suzane DelBene net worth: $52,200,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
Representative Suzan DelBene has served in Congress since 2012. She sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Select Revenue Measures and Trade Subcommittees. She is also Chair of the New Democrat Coalition, Co-chair of the Women's High-Tech Coalition, Kidney Caucus, and MedTech Caucus, and a member of the Pro-Choice Caucus. Suzan's wealth has come from a former executive role at Microsoft, including Microsoft stock, real estate investments, and mutual funds.
18. Texas: Sen. Roger Williams
Roger Williams net worth: $67,400,000
Party affiliation: Republican
Senator Roger Williams, a former Texas Secretary of State, has served in Congress since 2013. He is the chair of the bipartisan Congressional Baseball Caucus and the College Football Caucus and the coach and manager of the Republican Congressional Baseball Team. He has earned his wealth through starting and running businesses.
17. California: Rep. Doris O. Matsui
Doris O. Matsui net worth: $74,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
Doris Matsui has served in Congress since 2013, though she moved from district 5 to 6 in 2013. She serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Communications and Technology Subcommittee and is a member of the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee. Most of her wealth comes from her husband, Roger Sant, the founder of the AES Corporation, a Fortune 500 holding company.
16. Connecticut: Sen. Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal net worth: $85,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal has served in Congress since 1991. He served five terms as the state's Attorney General before being elected to Congress as the state's Senator in 2010. He serves on numerous committees, including The Committee on the Judiciary, The Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, The Committee on Armed Services, and The U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
His impressive wealth is actually mostly that of his his wife, Cynthia Malkin, whose money has been earned through hedge funds, stocks, and real estate.
15. California: Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein net worth: $110,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
Feinstein is California's longest serving woman Senator, holding her seat since 1992 with an impressive array of achievements under her belt. Some of these include helping in the creation of the AMBER Alert network, shoring up California's water infrastructure and participating in the enactment of the federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994. She also authored the first major cybersecurity bill to be signed into law.
Feinstein's wealth is largely that of her husband, Richard Blum, an investor and the president and chairman of Blum Capital, a private equity company.
14. California: Rep. Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi net worth: $120,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
Nancy Pelosi has a long and impressive career in congress as a state Representative for California for more than 35 years. She also served as the 52nd Speaker of the House of Representatives, the first woman to serve in that position. She had a crucial hand in such bills as the Affordable Care Act and the American Rescue Plan. She was even inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Her wealth can largely be attributed to her husband's property holdings, mutual funds, and stocks (including such high performing stocks as Slack, Tesla, Disney, Visa, Salesforce, PayPal, Alphabet, Facebook, and Netflix).
13. Montana: Gov. Greg Gianforte
Greg Gianforte net worth: $135,000,000
Party affiliation: Republican
Greg Gianforte was elected Montana's 25th Governor in 2020. He created most of his wealth as an entrepreneur in startups, including RightNow Technologies, which is one of Bozeman's largest employers.
12. Texas: Rep. Michael McCaul
Michael McCaul net worth: $200,000,000
Party affiliation: Republican
Before being elected to Congress in 2005, Texas Representative McCaul served as Chief of Counter Terrorism and National Security in the U.S. Attorney's office, and led their Joint Terrorism Task Force. In Congress, he's served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and the Foreign Affairs Committee.
It's not clear how he's earned his wealth.
11. California: Rep. Scott Peters
Scott Peters net worth: $200,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
California Representative Scott Peters got his start as an environmental lawyer, then moved on to the San Diego City Council. He was appointed to the Commission on Tax Policy in the New Economy, and later the California Coastal Commission. His wealth is largely from venture capital investing.
10. Virginia: Sen. Mark Warner
Mark Warner net worth: $215,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
The former Governor of Virginia (from 2002 to 2006) has served in Congress since 2009. Warner founded a telecommunications capital firm called Columbia Capital in the 1980s that has gone on to make investments in big companies, such as Nextel. Later he created Capital Cellular, making him a small fortune.
9. Florida: Sen. Rick Scott
Rick Scott net worth: $300,000,000
Party affiliation: Republican
Before his election to the U.S. Senate in 2018, Rick Scott served two terms as the 45th Governor of Florida. He earned his wealth as CEO of a healthcare company called Columbia/HCA.
8. Utah: Sen. Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney net worth: $300,000,000
Party affiliation: Independent
Formerly the 70th Governor of Massachusetts, and a Presidential Candidate in 2012, Mitt Romney has served as the Senator of Utah since January 2019. He currently sits on the Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; Homeland Security & Government Affairs; and Budget committees. In 2021, he was honored with the JFK Library's Profile in Courage Award. He's earned much of his wealth working for Bain Capital and investing in real estate.
7. Virginia: Gov. Glenn Youngkin
Glenn Youngkin net worth: $400,000,000
Party affiliation: Republican
Glenn Youngkin is a relative newcomer to politics, having served as Governor of Virginia only since 2022. He earned his wealth working as co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.
6. Colorado: Gov. Jared Polis
Jared Polis net worth: $400,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
First elected in 2008, Rep. Jared Polis is a not-too-distant second to Rep. Darrell Issa in terms of net worth. He co-founded his first company while still attending Princeton and went on to found Proflowers.com and BlueMountain.com.
He has served as Colorado's governor since 2019, after running on platforms including full renewable energy, stock options for workers and improved access to preschool and kindergarten.
5. West Virginia: Gov. Jim Justice
Jim Justice net worth: $450,000,000
Party affiliation: Republican
Justice has served as the 36th Governor of West Virginia since 2017. He inherited his father's companies, Bluestone Industries, Inc. and Bluestone Coal Corporation. Governor Justice invested his wealth in a $1 billion dollar mountain complex featuring housing, skiing and a golf course so it could host the U.S. Open to West Virginia.
4. California: Rep. Darrell Issa
Al Franken net worth: $460,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
In 2015, the Los Angeles Times reported that Rep. Darrell Issa - one of the most influential people in Washington, D.C. - was not just the richest politician in California, but also in the entire country. At that time his net worth was only $330 million, while it's now $460 million.
He made his fortune as a car alarm mogul.
3. North Dakota: Gov. Doug Burgum
Doug Burgum net worth: $1,100,000,000
Party affiliation: Republican
North Dakota's Governor Doug Burgum is the first to reach billionaire status on this list. North His wealth comes from a number of ventures. First, he sold his business, Great Plains Software, to Microsoft in 2002 for $1.1 billion after its initial public offering (IPO). Then he became a successful tech investor, and later founded Kilbourne Group, a real estate development firm, and co-founded a venture capital firm, Arthur Ventures.
2. Florida: Candidate for Presidential Nomination, 2024, Donald J. Trump
Donald J. Trump net worth: $2,000,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
Donald J. Trump served one term as the 45th President of the U.S. and has thrown his hat in the ring again for the 2024 nomination. He is currently in the midst of several lawsuits. Trump has largely made his wealth through real estate investing and television.
1. Illinois: Gov. J.B. Pritzker
J.B. Pritzker net worth: $3,400,000,000
Party affiliation: Democrat
The wealthiest politician on this list is the 43rd Governor of Illinois, heir to the Marmon and the Hyatt hotel chain (founded by his grandfather). Mr. Pritzker started the venture capital firm New World, in 1005, which invests in IT and software companies, and he manages the Pritzker Group, a private equity and venture capital firm.
Comments