Evan Bayh has an income and minimum net worth of more than $19 million, according to newly released financial disclosure forms that he was required to file for his Indiana Senate campaign.
The disclosures cover all of last year and part of 2016. Bayh earned nearly $6.3 million in salaries, directors fees and speeches and $7,000 for an “article” he wrote for grassroots firm DDC Advocacy in Washington during that time.
{mosads}Republicans looking to paint Bayh as a Washington insider have seized on his work at McGuireWoods, a law and lobby firm where he worked but did not officially register to lobby. Forms show he earned a $1.95 million salary there.
He also earned $440,000 from Fox News, where he worked as a commentator, and $2.04 million from private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Once his Senate campaign began to ramp up, Bayh told Politico that he was only working part time. He resigned from his post as a Fox News analyst as of July, according to reports.
Bayh took in $1.76 million in fees from sitting on boards at Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Fifth Third Bank, RLJ Lodging Trust and Berry Plastics Group.
He previously served in the Senate from 1999 to 2011, where he earned a $174,000 salary, and before that served as the governor of Indiana.
Among his minimum of $13.4 million in assets, Bayh lists a diverse portfolio of investments in real estate, mutual funds, private equity funds and stocks. He and his wife have more than $5 million tied up in stock and stock options, primarily in the companies for which he works.
His personal residence, which is also listed as “rental property,” has a value listed as between $1 million and $5 million. Bayh’s only liability is a mortgage from 2013 worth between $500,001 and $1 million.
Assets and liabilities are categorized in wide ranges that make it difficult to pin down the exact amount of lawmakers and candidates’ net worth.
Over the weekend, The Associated Press reported that Bayh spent a “substantial” amount of his last year in the Senate looking for jobs in the private sector, citing calendars obtained by the organization.
It was the first time that the job negotiations have come to light, because Congress must only disclose these contacts once an offer has been made.
Most of Bayh’s meetings, the records show, were with headhunters and recruiters rather than directly with prospective employers.
His Tea Party-aligned opponent in the Senate race, Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.), will likely seize on the story, which said that Bayh was part of a small group of Democrats that stopped a tax increase on carried interest — a hike opposed by Apollo Global Management — and an amendment that would have eliminated tax deductions for oil companies.
The previous month, Bayh had met with a Marathon Oil board member, according to the AP, and later went on the payroll himself. Shortly after leaving the Senate, Apollo announced Bayh was going to be a senior adviser at the firm.
Bayh’s campaign pressed back on the report, saying that the senator voted numerous times to end special tax treatment for oil companies and helped pass Wall Street reforms.
“Evan Bayh’s career has been about standing up for Hoosiers, including taking on Wall Street Banks and Big Oil,” spokesman Ben Ray told the AP. “Evan Bayh voted for the largest Wall Street reform in generations, voted to close the carried interest tax loophole, and voted repeatedly against tax breaks for oil companies.”
While he ultimately decided not to run in 2008, Bayh once formed an exploratory committee on a potential White House bid.
President Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, wrote in his book that it was a toss-up between Bayh and Joe Biden for vice president during the 2008 race.