Hagan is 35th richest lawmaker

Sen. Kay Hagan ranks 35th on The Hill's Rich List, a compilation of the 50 wealthiest lawmakers in Washington.

The feature cited Hagan's stock holdings in drug makers Pfizer and Genentech as well as Richmond, Va., based tobacco maker Altria and its subsidiary Philip Morris. Most of her estimated $6.7 million worth is related to her interest in a Florida commercial real estate business owned by her father.

The Hill's rankings, which are admittedly imprecise, list Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as the richest lawmaker with a worth of $167.8 million, much of which comes from his wife's interest in ketchup.

Hagan is the only member of the state's Congressional delegation to make the Hill's list.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated where Altria has its headquarters.

Hayes, Dole among Congress' richest

Two of North Carolina's delegation are among the 15 richest.

According to a survey ($) by Washington, D.C.-based Roll Call, U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes and Sen. Elizabeth Dole are among the richest members of Congress.

Hayes, a Concord Republican, comes in at No. 10. That's down four spots from last year's survey, in part because he suffered considerable financial losses, though he's still worth $36.1 million.

He reported owning between $500,001 and $1 million in Altria stock; another $500,001 or more in timber investments and at least $2 million worth of property in Minnesota and South Carolina. He also holds at least $3 million in municipal bonds and a personal debt of $1 million for his plane.

Dole, a Salisbury Republican, comes in at No. 14. Her $16.1 million portfolio includes a 1 percent stake — worth more than $1 million — that her husband, former Sen. Bob Dole, has in a family trust. She also owns roughly $2 million in promissory notes.

In addition, Dole has collected more than $1 million in rent from a 119-acre property in Kansas and has multiple hedge funds and trust accounts worth more than $1 million each.

The rankings are based on financial disclosure forms filed by the politicians.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's 2007 financial disclosure form.
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A PAC of cigarettes?

Political action committees associated with four major tobacco companies gave about $28,000 since 2000 to 11 of the 17 Democrats who voted against the smoking ban.

As Dome noted earlier, they were the crossovers who went against party line, helping defeat the bill.

Lorillard, R.J. Reynolds, Standard Commercial Tobacco, Philip Morris and its parent company Altria gave mostly small donations of $250, $500 or $1,000 through their PACs, typical of their contributions to other legislators.

The biggest recipient was Rep. Nelson Cole of Reidsville, who got $8,750 between 2000 and 2006. Rep. James Crawford of Oxford received $5,500 during that same time period.

Both represent tobacco-growing areas in North Carolina.

Reps. R. Van Braxton, Walter Church, Mary McAllister, Timothy Spear and Edith Warren were not listed on campaign finance reports filed by the tobacco companies' PACs.

Among the Republicans who voted for the bill, Rep. Julia Howard received $4,200 and Rep. Jeff Barnhart received $2,250.

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