Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Richest Orange County Congressman of Them All?

Rep. Gary Miller

​U.S. Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Brea), is the eighth wealthiest Member of Congress, the 18th wealthiest when combining members of both houses and Orange County's richest congressman by far, according to numbers recently crunched by the Center for Responsive Politics. The nonprofit and nonpartisan center recently ranked the personal net worth of members of both houses as of 2010, the most recent year data was available.

This caveat from the center is duly noted: "It is difficult to gauge what a lawmaker is worth based on what they file because the disclosure forms do not require exact values. Instead, the lawmaker reports the range of value into which an asset, for example, falls. As the values increase, the ranges get broader."

Uncle Buck Rohrabacher

​To calculate net worth, the center adds together the lawmaker's range of assets and then subtracts their range of liabilities. The midpoint of the resulting range is the figure used to rank each member, a method the center reports has proven more accurate than any other. When information was available giving more definitive figures, that number was used in place of the range.

You'll also notice some OC congressmen with negative income numbers, a phenomenon that occurs when matching the amount of their minimum assets against their maximum liabilities. And if you guessed who would report a minimum net worth of $1, and the first two guesses didn't count, I'm sure you 99 percenters would agree that's got Dana Rohrabacher written all over it. He does dress like someone who made a buck last year (take it from someone in the same Ross Dress for Less boat).

Ex-car dealer Campbell, the Avis of rich OC congressmen

​With all those explanations out of the may, Miller leads the Orange County pack with a minimum net worth of $17,454,056, an average of $46,008,028 and a maximum net worth of $74,562,000.

Those figures make Miller richer than Barbara Boxer, one of California's two Democratic U.S. senators, who ranked 44th in that chamber with a net worth ranging from $1,267,008 (minimum) to $5,631,000 (maximum). Dianne Feinstein was a few rungs ahead of Miller on the richest list culled from both houses, with a minimum net worth of $44,386,225, average of $69,046,622 and maximum of $93,707,020.

Here are the House rankings for each member whose district is fully or at least partly in Orange County with rank, name, party affiliation, city of district office, minimum net worth, average and maximum net worth:

8 Gary Miller (R-Brea) $17,454,056; $46,008,028; $74,562,000

22 John Campbell (R-Newport Beach) $8,438,067; $20,731,033; $33,024,000

Calvert is turd, er, third.

​76 Ken Calvert (R-Riverside; district includes San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Coto de Caza and Las Flores) $-1,899,989; $3,900,0002; $9,699,994

111 Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) $252,003; $2,466,000; $4,679,998

292 Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) $1; $375,000; $749,999

299 Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) $345,007; $536,000

When ranking the House only, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), whose district took in parts of southern Orange County before redistricting, leads in wealth with: $195,400,035; $448,125,017; $700,850,000.

Sanchez, richest (and only) OC Democrat in House.

​Another notable Californians is former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Redondo Beach), who was No. 3 with $160,085,503; $326,844,751; $493,604,000. She retired from Congress when her term ended in '10.

And, at No. 6 in the House with a Rush Limbaugh-fired bullet was Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) with $5,946,075; $101,123,032; $196,299,990.

Among the poorest at No. 432 out of 435 House members is ethically challenged Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) with a minimum of minus-$1,230,988, average of minus-$383,496 and maximum of $463,996.