No matter how shady you are, if you pay enough you get a photo with POTUSLast cycle Maryland crackpot David Trone spent $13,414,225 of his own money trying to buy a seat in Congress. He lost. This year's trying in another district and as of March 31 he had already put $5,281,939 of his own into the race. Most big self-funders lose. So far this cycle of the 15 top (over a million dollars) self-funders trying to buy themselves seats in the House, 7 have already lost:
• Kathaleen Wall (R-TX)- $6,019,732• Paul Kerr (D-CA)- $4,112,728• Dan Moody (R-GA)- $3,053,120• Andy Thorburn (D-CA)- $2,785,900• Sara Jacobs (D-CA)- $1,587,831• Paul David Addis (R-PA)- $1,452,700• Tahir Javed (D-TX)- $1,313,416
One, Harley Rouda (D-CA), spent $1,130,500 and is in a too-close-to-call situation, ahead of his opponent by 73 votes. And only 4 have won their primaries, no guarantee they will ever make it into Congress.
• Gil Cisneros (D-CA)- $3,552,762• Scott Wallace (D-PA)- $2,522,892• Greg Gianforte (R-MT)- $1,500,000• John Chrin (R-PA)- $1,162,291)
Trone and 2 more-- both Tennessee Republicans, George Flinn Jr. and Bob Corlew-- are still campaigning in primaries. I'm not going to worry about these assholes who spend millions and then don't wind up in Congress. I have to admit I hope they eventually wind up on the unemployment and food stamp lines, especially the ones who spend their own fortunes determined to get into Congress so they can do actual harm to working families, like Kathaleen Wall, John Chrin, Greg Gianforte, Gil Cisneros, Dan Moody and Paul Kerr. I care about their well-being even less than I care about the well-being on the sexual harassment congressmen who were forced out and made to look for new jobs, namely Tim Murphy (R-PA), Blake Farenthold (R-TX), Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Patrick Meehan (R-PA). All of them are disgraced but none of them are going to starve. Farenthold is a lobbyist for the Port of Port Lavaca-Point Comfort, with a $160,000 salary. His estimated net worth of in 2015 was $5,789,824.
“The Board looks forward to the services Blake can provide in assisting the Port with matters in Washington, D.C.,” Calhoun Port Authority board members said in a statement.But Farenthold is already under fire in his new role. Public backlash led the all-male board to consider ousting him, and a local newspaper has sued the port over the hiring process.When reports surfaced in December that Farenthold had settled with his former communications director, Lauren Greene, he promised to repay the $84,000 in full.Now the Texas Republican says he won’t pay after all, and has rejected calls from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to fund the June 30 special election for the Corpus Christi seat.
How's that for disgusting? I think he comes from a rich family which has helped underwrite his repulsive career. In his first race (2010) he self-funded $103,730 into the campaign. Tim Murphy is another one who quickly took a job as a lobbyist. Trent Franks doesn't need to take a job. He was one of the richest (and most selfish) members of Congress with a net worth of around $33 million, most of it made after he was a member.