Florida Trend Discloses Shocking News: Richest State Reps Are All Republican

By Gail Shepherd Fri., Sep. 18 2009 at 11:35 AM

Categories: Broward, Florida, Politics

Domino theory: $$ attracts $$.

If the recent ACORN video stings hadn't convinced you that the right wing is a whole bunch savvier and sneakier than the left, then a comparison of the net worth of our Florida House reps ought to definitively settle the contest. Florida Trend's look at our politicians' net worth, published this month, found that the ten richest Florida House reps are all Republicans.

Baxter Troutman of Winter Haven leads the list -- the orange-grove magnate has managed to amass a cool $40,849,990 million. A distant second is Carl Domino of Jupiter, with a mere $23,719,585 million.

Hudson, in the hole.

In contrast, look at poor Democratic whip Franklin Sands, D-Westin. Sands' net worth, thanks to some brilliant investments with Bernie Madoff that robbed him of $3 million, took a very democratic 80 percent nosedive last year.

Still, some Juicers might feel a little bit smug knowing that Pembroke Pines Republican Matt Hudson* is sunk deep into the red: Hudson is a cool $84,000 in the hole. Even if your net worth amounts to the $15 you've got in your pocket, you can count yourself ahead of the good rep.

*Hudson recently took health-care town hall questions via Twitter. He may be broke, but he's no Luddite.