The State - S.C. Lawmakers Not Super Rich

News Article

By James Rosen

U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, a Hanahan Republican in his seventh year in Congress, doesn't feel like a multimillionaire.

Ask Brown, a former Piggly Wiggly supermarket chain executive, how much he's worth, and he draws a blank.

"I have no notion," said Brown, whose district includes Charleston and parts of the Grand Strand. "It doesn't really matter much to me. I never used wealth as a benchmark for my friendships... . A lot of my friends are people I went to high school with. Most of them aren't wealthy."

Brown's net worth is $5.8 million, putting him at No. 2 in South Carolina's congressional delegation behind U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-York, who's worth about twice that much.

It would be a stretch to call any of South Carolina's eight U.S. lawmakers poor, with their $165,200-a-year salaries and, depending on the lawmaker, tens of thousands of dollars in extra income from stock dividends, home or business rentals and their wives' jobs.

But a look at their annual financial disclosure reports and interviews with seven lawmakers — U.S. Rep. James Clyburn declined to discuss his personal finances — shows most are men of modest means in comparison with many of their congressional peers from other states.

In neighboring Georgia, for instance, 10 of the 14 congressional members are millionaires — half of them many times over. For example, with a $23.5 million net worth, the wealthiest Georgian, Republican U.S. Rep. John Linder, is twice as wealthy as Spratt.

The combined personal wealth of the entire S.C. delegation — $21.4 million — scarcely is a third the net worth of U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes alone. The North Carolina Republican and textile heir is worth $61.9 million, good for No. 3 in the House of Representatives.

MILLIONAIRE CLUB OF 3

Among the South Carolinians, only Spratt, Brown and U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett are millionaires. Barrett, a Westminister Republican in his third term, barely makes the grade at $1.3 million.

Barrett said he would be wealthier by now if he had pursued his father's furniture and real estate businesses, but he has no regrets.

"The private sector certainly would have offered much more opportunities than the government sector," Barrett said. "Not to sound corny, but I feel like this is where the Lord wants me right now."

Spratt, too, downplays his wealth.

"It's basically irrelevant to what I do," Spratt, in his 13th term, said of his $11.5 million net worth. "It doesn't affect the way I vote or how I approach my colleagues and my constituents. It gives my family some financial security, which makes it easier to serve in public office."

Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, Spratt noted, were wealthy men who did much to help poor Americans.

At the other end of the delegation's economic ladder is U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a first-term Republican. His Greenville home makes up most of his $255,000 net worth.

Only four senators — and no other Palmetto State lawmaker — are worth less than DeMint.

"It just shows that a middle-class guy can get elected to the Senate," DeMint said. "I'm happy with my lot in life."

DeMint owned a marketing and advertising firm before being elected to Congress. He and his wife, Debbie, have put four children through college. They're also hosting their third wedding next month.

"If we can get out of all this and break even, I'll feel successful," DeMint said.

SOME HIRE FAMILY

Federal election laws prohibit the mixing of personal and campaign money. But some congressional ethics experts say dozens of lawmakers have used campaign money to pay relatives, raising questions of whether money limited to seeking office went for personal enrichment.

A recent study by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington found 97 House members used money from their 2002, 2004 or 2006 campaigns to pay family members. Three of the House members were from South Carolina: U.S. Reps. Bob Inglis, Joe Wilson and Clyburn.

"This shines a spotlight on the troubling practice of lawmakers using their congressional positions as profit centers for family members," said Melanie Sloan, the group's executive director.

Inglis, a fifth-term Travelers Rest Republican, said such questions are fair, but he defended his employment of his wife, Mary Anne, as his campaign manager, with an annual salary of $27,000.

"Where else could I find a political science honors graduate of Duke University at that salary?" Inglis said. "The great deal I get is that I have total access to my campaign manager at all times. I can ask questions, make suggestions — most of which are accepted, many of which are improved upon."

Wilson, a Springdale Republican in his fourth term, also defended his decision to pay one of his sons, Julian, $1,200 a month to be his deputy campaign manager in the summer of 2004.

Julian, now a real estate agent in Columbia, had just graduated from Clemson University and was preparing for National Guard training at the U.S. Army Signal Center at Fort Gordon, Ga.

"He did an excellent job," Wilson said of Julian's campaign work. "I was very proud of him."

Kristie Greco, an aide to Clyburn, said the current House majority whip and eighth-term Columbia Democrat paid his daughter, Angela, $13,600 to work as a campaign bookkeeper during the 2004 election cycle.

Clyburn declined repeated requests to discuss her employment.

"He'd rather focus on the work he's done as majority whip," Greco said. "He believes there's plenty of information on his financial disclosure form and elsewhere."

NOT DRIVEN BY MONEY

Inglis has a novel way of cutting down on personal expenses: Instead of renting or owning a flat in Washington like most lawmakers, he pulls a mattress from the closet and sleeps on the floor of his office.

"You can work till you drop at night, pull out your bed, go to sleep, get up and go to the gym," Inglis said of his office digs.

"It's certainly the most convenient way to operate. But it also has the advantage of helping to pay for college with five kids."

Inglis said one son just graduated from Yale University, a daughter is attending Duke, and three other children will attend college over the next decade.

Wilson was a real estate lawyer before coming to Washington in January 2001. With a net worth of $415,000, he believes he still is in touch with the everyday lives of his constituents.

"I don't run for office because of the income. I run because I want to serve," Wilson said. "I hate to use a class structure, but I believe we are classic American middle class."

Like Wilson, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham was a lawyer before gaining election — first to the House in 1994, then to the Senate in 2002.

Graham's net worth is $880,000; a good chunk of it comes from the Washington home he lives in while the Senate is in session. Although he made more money as an attorney than he now earns in Washington, the Seneca Republican said he made the right choice.

"Pursuing wealth has never been a passion of mine," Graham said. "I consider myself very fortunate. This job to me is a godsend. Public service at this level is just something money can't buy."

Rosen covers Washington for McClatchy Newspapers in South Carolina.

WHAT THEY'RE WORTH

All members of Congress earn $165,200 in salary. Here are other earned income, assets and net worth:

REP. JOHN SPRATT, D-S.C.

Outside income: $99,000 from dividends, interest

Largest asset: Fort Mill farmland

Net worth: $11.5 million

REP. HENRY BROWN, R-S.C.

Outside income: $133,000 from capital gains, rent

Largest asset: 1,500 acres of farmland

Net worth: $5.8 million

REP. GRESHAM BARRETT, R-S.C.

Outside income: $69,000 wife's income, rentals

Largest asset: Washington, D.C.-area condo

Net worth: $1.3 million

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.

Outside income: $19,000 rental, dividends

Largest asset: Washington, D.C. rental home

Net worth: $880,000

REP. BOB INGLIS, R-S.C.

Outside income: $69,000 wife's income, dividends, interest

Largest asset: Travelers Rest home

Net worth: $800,000

REP. JAMES CLYBURN, D-S.C.

Outside Income: $57,000 state pension, rent

Largest asset: Columbia home

Net worth: $450,000

REP. JOE WILSON, R-S.C.

Outside Income: $99,000 rentals

Largest asset: West Columbia commercial property

Net worth: $415,000

SEN. JIM DeMINT, R-S.C.

Outside Income: $1,000 book advance

Largest asset: Greenville home

Net worth: $255,000

Georgia

Wealthiest

REP. JOHN LINDER, R-GA.

Outside Income: $3.7 million dividends, book royalties

Largest asset: Grayland Industries stock

Net worth: $23.5 million

Least wealthy

REP. HANK JOHNSON, D-GA.

Outside Income: $42,000, law firm

Largest asset: none listed

Net worth: none listed

North Carolina

Wealthiest

REP. ROBIN HAYES, R-N.C.

Outside Income: $6 million, dividends, interest

Largest asset: airplane, stocks

Net worth: $61.9 million

Least wealthy

REP. MIKE McINTYRE, D-N.C.

Outside income: $4,300 interest

Largest asset: checking account

Net worth: $118,000

DOING THE MATH

How the financial standing of each member of the S.C. congressional delegation was compiled:

Each member of Congress receives the same yearly salary of $165,200.

The rest of each congressman's finances are derived from required financial disclosure reports for 2006, real property tax assessment data and interviews with the members.

Members are not required to provide exact income or asset data. The figures we report are, in some cases, approximate; they were calculated using the midpoints of monetary ranges provided on the report. In some cases, the lawmakers disclosed precise figures.

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