By Palmer Gibbs,聽InsideGov.com
When billionaire businessman Donald Trump announced his campaign in June, he the crowd he would self-fund his presidential bid, explaining, 鈥淚鈥檓 using my own money. I鈥檓 not using the lobbyists. I鈥檓 not using donors. I don鈥檛 care. I鈥檓 really rich鈥︹��
The Donald鈥檚 campaign to be the Republican nominee for the White House is unique for many reasons, but one of the main things that sets him apart may well be his enormous personal wealth. With a net worth that reaches far into the billions, his 鈥淚鈥檓 really rich鈥� self-assessment feels like a bit of an understatement.
While Trump鈥檚 wealth is an outlier, even in the , many other politicians sport hefty bank accounts of their own. Using a variety of data sources and research, took a look at the richest active politicians, ranking the top 24 officials and candidates. While creating the list, InsideGov consulted data from the and included federal-level legislators, governors and declared presidential candidates.
#24. Lincoln Chafee, Democratic candidate for president
$50 million
A Rhode Island native, Lincoln Chafee might just be the most interesting politician you鈥檝e never heard of. Chafee started out in the Senate as a Republican, then became his state鈥檚 governor after running as an independent. After one term in the Governor鈥檚 Mansion, Chafee decided to for president in 2016 as a Democrat. Chafee and his wife, Stephanie, both come from wealthy, well-connected families (her family the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design in 1877). Fun fact: During his announcement, Chafee 鈥� whose father was a Republican politician 鈥� said the U.S. should adopt the metric system.
#23. Rep. James Renacci, R-Ohio
$52,011,811
Diversity is the key to Rep. James Renacci鈥檚 wealth. The Ohio Republican, who was first elected to the House in 2010, has made his from real estate investments, car dealerships, a restaurant and two sports teams.
#22. Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho
$53,630,527
Sen. James Risch his personal wealth as a trial lawyer, and served in Idaho as a state senator, lieutenant governor and governor before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008. He was re-elected in 2014, and is the of the Energy Subcommittee.
#21. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
$54,419,017
After founding a when he was 25 years old, Sen. Bob Corker stayed in that line of work, eventually acquiring two real estate companies. The two-term senator now a number of different investment funds and accounts.
#20. Carly Fiorina, Republican candidate for president
$59 million
The only woman running for president in the crowded Republican primary field, Carly Fiorina uses her executive experience at AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Hewlett-Packard to argue she is best suited to be commander in chief. But her tenure at those companies is under scrutiny. In the six years she was the , 30,000 employees were laid off and she banked $100 million.
#19. Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y.
$59,414,015
An Empire State native, Rep. Chris Collins started out in the as the CEO of an industrial gear manufacturer and later invested in a handful of companies based in western New York. Collins was first elected to the House in 2012, and before that, served as the executive of Erie County.
#18. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla.
$64,375,031
After getting his undergraduate, law and master’s degrees from Harvard, Rep. Alan Grayson started his as a lawyer with an emphasis on contract law. He then ran IDT Corporation, a telecommunications company. The Democratic congressman is for Senate, an open position since Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is campaigning for the White House.
#17. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
$77,235,068
A native of San Francisco, Sen. Dianne Feinstein served in city government for years before first getting elected to the Senate in 1992. Feinstein has multiple , and her husband, , heads up an investment firm called Blum Capital Partners.
#16. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.
$81,249,532
Rep. Suzan DelBene built her in the technology sphere, starting out at Microsoft in the late 1980s. She founded drugstore.com, the online health and beauty store, and eventually returned to Microsoft as its vice president of mobile communications. After an unsuccessful run for the House in 2010, the Washington State Democrat was elected in 2012; a local newspaper that DelBene spent millions of her own money on her first two congressional races.
#15. Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif.
$88,344,051
Rep. Scott Peters as an environmental lawyer and served on the city council before getting elected to the House in 2012. The San Diego congressman鈥檚 wife, , is the president and CEO of Cameron Holdings, an investment company with offices in St. Louis and La Jolla.
#14. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.
$98,210,549
A big for Rep. Vern Buchanan is his national string of auto dealerships, Buchanan Automotive Group. In 2008, the Florida Republican faced a first round of accusations of campaign fraud 鈥� that he had employees from his dealerships make campaign contributions and then reimbursed them. The House Ethics Committee later investigated Buchanan for errors found on his financial disclosure forms, but ultimately him.
#13. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
$99,581,170
Sen. Richard Blumenthal started his career in law, and was the state鈥檚 Attorney General for 20 years. The Connecticut Democrat, who went to , was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. Blumenthal鈥檚 wife, Cynthia, has family connections to New York real estate: her father, Peter Malkin, is a of the Empire State Building.
#12. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
$100,864,528
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a longtime congresswoman from San Francisco, became the , and remains the highest-ranking female politician in the U.S. Pelosi and her husband, Paul, own multiple properties in the Bay Area, including a in Napa.
#11. Gov. Rick Scott, R-Fla.
$146.8 million
Gov. Rick Scott was first elected in 2010, and four years later, he eked out another term in the Governor鈥檚 Mansion by just one percentage point. Scott made his in the health care industry, forming the Columbia Hospital Corporation in the 1980s. He has spent almost of his own money during his campaigns in Florida.
#10. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas
$162,882,467
A Texas native, Rep. Michael McCaul was first elected to the House in 2004 to represent the 10th District, which covers Austin and some outer suburbs of Houston. McCaul鈥檚 wife, Linda, is the daughter of the founder of radio broadcasting giant Clear Channel Communications. In 2011, Roll Call that the Republican representative鈥檚 wealth ballooned in a year after 鈥渓arge transfers from his in-laws.鈥�
#9. Rep. Dave Trott, R-Mich.
$200,509,228
Armed with a law degree from Duke University, Rep. Dave Trott heads up , a real estate finance law firm. The Michigan Republican is serving in his first term in the House, and has been a to the Republican Party and GOP candidates.
#8. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.
$213,224,214
A Boulder, Colo., native, Rep. Jared Polis has represented his home district in the House since 2008. He American Information Systems, an IT company, while still in college at Princeton University, and was named an entrepreneur of the year in 2000 by Ernst and Young. Polis is the first openly gay parent in the House.
#7. Rep. John K. Delaney, D-Md.
$222,410,577
Rep. John Delaney two lending companies, Health Care Financial Partners and CapitalSource, which both went public on the New York Stock Exchange. The Maryland Democrat, whose district covers the outer suburbs of D.C., was first elected to the House in 2012.
#6. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
$254,168,650
Sen. Mark Warner served as Virginia鈥檚 governor in the early 2000s and was first elected to the Senate in 2008 (he a second term in 2014). The Democrat most of his money from the cell phone industry, investing in Nextel early on and starting an IT venture capital firm called .
#5. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
$448,425,019
Rep. Darrell Issa has topped the list of wealthiest members of Congress for years, having built a fortune on his car alarm services company, Directed Electronics. The California Republican the business in the mid 鈥�90s, and stepped down in 2000 when he was first elected to the House.
#4. Gov. Mark Dayton, D-Minn.
Approx. $1.6 billion
As a descendent of the founder of the Target Corporation, Gov. Mark Dayton is part of one of America鈥檚 wealthiest families, . The Democrat served in the Senate for one term before being elected as Minnesota鈥檚 governor in 2010.
#3. Gov. Bill Haslam, R-Tenn.
Approx. $2 billion
Gov. Bill Haslam jumped to the upper reaches of the list of in 2015. The Republican, who was the mayor of Knoxville before moving into the Governor鈥檚 Mansion in 2010, is the to the Pilot Flying J, a chain of truck stops in the U.S. and Canada. Cheaper gas prices meant the private company scored a larger profit in 2014 鈥� and padded Haslam鈥檚 bank account.
#2. Gov. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb.
Approx. $4.5 billion
Gov. Pete Ricketts鈥� dad, Joe, is the founder of TD Ameritrade, an online broker and investing company. The Ricketts family, which Forbes as the 66th richest family in America with a net worth of $4.5 billion, is also the major owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. But the first-term governor out of Nebraska isn鈥檛 the only member of the family to be involved in politics: his brother, Todd, heads up the conservative super PAC , and his sister, Laura, formed , a political group that promotes pro-lesbian candidates and policies.
#1. Donald Trump, Republican candidate for president
Approx. $10 billion
Like The Donald said: 鈥淚鈥檓 really rich.鈥� The TV personality and real estate tycoon made his money from his various commercial properties. Soon after he announced he was running for president, Trump claimed he was worth , but that figure has been disputed, most recently by Forbes, which Trump was worth closer to $4 billion. Either way, he has enough money to run for president as many times as he pleases.
