Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) $41.2 million
Nita Lowey has a rich husband — and an investment strategy that pays off. The couple’s net worth has risen 36 percent since 2004, from $30.3 million to $41.2 million in 2010. As the chairwoman of the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee, Lowey has wielded power far beyond New York's 18th district. The veteran New York pol achieved her highest degree of national exposure when she declined to run for the 2000 Senate race for then-Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's (D-N.Y.) seat when it became clear that then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton intended to compete. In 2001, in what was often interpreted as rewarding party loyalty for bowing of that Senate race gracefully, Lowey assumed control of House Democrats' campaign arm. In 2008, Lowey made headlines in connection to Clinton's Senate seat yet again when she withdrew from the running to replace Clinton when the former first lady became President Obama's secretary of state.
