Do Rich Candidates Win More?
COOPER: Well, Washington may be broken, the government, but the folks we elected to run it are certainly far from broke. The Center for Responsive Politics says 237 members of Congress are millionaires, according to their most recent reported assets. So, do you know who the richest five are, the top five? We are going to show you right now. First, from the state of Massachusetts, we have Senator John Kerry. The Democrat has an average net worth of nearly $209 million. All right, let's go to the number fourth richest member of Congress. For that, we have to go to the state of Virginia, Senator Mark Warner. The Democrat has reported assets of about $209 million. So, let's go to the next name on the list. The next is in Wisconsin, Senator Herb Cole. The Democrat's estimated worth is roughly $214 million. Now, the second richest member of Congress, actually, for the top two, we go to the state of California. Second on the list, Representative Jane Harman, estimated net worth $244 million. All right. Let's look at the richest member of Congress, also from California, Republican Representative Darryl Issa; estimated net worth, $251 million. So clearly, to get power, you need to have money, yours or other people's. That's the cost of entering Washington. And it's a series that we're launching tonight. These days when it comes to spending, the sky is the limit. In Connecticut, Linda McMahon, wife of pro-wrestling honcho Vince McMahon, says she is going to shell up to $50 million to be that state's next senator. Randi Kaye reports.</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Take a look at this. That woman, in wrestling jargon, she's getting tombstoned. Two things you need to know about her. First, she hates to lose and will do anything to win. Second, she's worth hundreds of millions of dollars and plans to spend tens of millions of her own to become the next U.S. senator from Connecticut. Her name is Linda McMahon. She and her husband, Vince McMahon, co-founded World Wrestling Entertainment, a billion-dollar business. They brought us Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. So Linda McMahon isn't just rich; she's really rich. Dave Leventhal at the Center for Responsive Politics tracks campaign spending. He says there is no recession in politics. (on camera): Do you have to be rich to get elected these days?</s>DAVE LEVENTHAL, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: You don't have to be rich, but it sure helps to be rich.</s>KAYE (voice-over): In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg poured at least $90 million of his own into his re-election campaign and won. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine: more than $40 million to win in 2005. Back in the Connecticut smack-down, McMahon's opponents in the Republican primary are millionaires, too, but small-time compared to McMahon. Former congressman, Rob Simmons, is worth about $2.5 million.</s>ROB SIMMONS, CONNECTICUT SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: You know, we don't have $40 million or $50 million. We don't need $40 million or $50 million. We need people. We need people. And tonight, we got people.</s>KAYE (on camera): Do you believe that you have to be rich to win?</s>SIMMONS: No, I do not. And I'm not rich, and I've won.</s>KAYE: McMahon has never held political office but says she's willing to spend $50 million of her own money on this campaign and finance it herself because she is refusing to accept money from special interest groups. (voice-over): Personal financial disclosure forms show McMahon has so much cash, she keeps $1 million in a bank account and has more than $15,000 in uncashed checks. At the Republican primary debate in Hartford this week, McMahon was asked if she's trying to buy the election. Her opponent, Simmons, says it's a valid question. (on camera): You've raised about $3 million?</s>SIMMONS: Yes.</s>KAYE: Your opponent, Linda McMahon, has said that she's willing to spend $50 million that she has, her own money, on her campaign. How do you compete with that?</s>SIMMONS: It's hard in some respects to compete with somebody who has just a ton of money.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Being independently wealthy allows McMahon to spend more time with voters, less time fund-raising. She can blanket the state with advertising and pay top dollar for staffers. Her chief of staff earns nearly $300,000 a year. (on camera): So money talks?</s>LEVENTHAL: Money does talk.</s>KAYE (voice-over): But for candidates like Linda McMahon, who pay for their own campaigns, talk may not be enough. The Center for Responsive Politics says 40 out of 51 congressional candidates who spent half a million dollars or more on their 2008 campaigns lost or quit. Proof, perhaps, that even the richest person in the world needs a message voters believe, not just a good act. Randi Kaye, CNN, Hartford, Connecticut.</s>COOPER: Ouch. Our series continues tomorrow. We're also following several other important stories tonight. Brianna Keilar has the "360 News & Bulletin" -- Brianna.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, we begin with a developing story: a powerful earthquake in Taiwan. The magnitude 6.4 quake struck the southern part of the country. As of now, no reports of injuries or damage, but we will continue to monitor that situation. Now also tonight, new troubles for New York's embattled governor. Te State Commission on Public Integrity says David Paterson broke ethics rules when accepting free World Series tickets last year. This comes as Paterson stands accused of intervening in a domestic violence incident involving one of his advisers. The government expecting to turn a tidy $2 billion profit on part of its loan to Bank of America when it puts the bank's stock warrants up for auction tomorrow. The government will now likely break even on the bank bailout, according to the Congressional Budget Office. And Anderson, a Virginia congressman is pushing to have Ronald Reagan on the $50 bill, replacing Ulysses S. Grant.</s>COOPER: Interesting. We'll see if that happens. Brianna thanks very much. In Chile tonight, the death toll will -- is actually about 802 right now. We're going to have a report from Karl Penhaul. There was a scare about a tsunami. A lot of people have been running, thinking they were running for their lives. We'll have that ahead and a lot more. Stay tuned.