I was wrong.

Ann Wagner hasn’t tripled her net worth while in Congress. The reality is far worse.

I was wrong. I am always willing to admit when I’ve made a mistake.

I’ve said before that Ann Wagner tripled her net worth after taking office.

New data shows that isn’t true. She actually quadrupled it.

It’s staggering to conceive. She started off wealthy after years of work, and that’s fine, but then it exploded. Her portfolio has grown exponentially during her public “service.”

When Ann Wagner arrived in Congress 13 years ago, her net worth was about $6.3 million. Today, it’s over $26.5 million according to Quiver Analytics that tracks members of Congress’s trade activity and estimated net worth.

The median annual income of residents of the 2nd District is $99,000 a year.

While families in MO-02 are fighting for scraps, she just keeps getting richer and richer. Just this past week she voted against extending the ACA tax subsidies even as 17 of her fellow Republicans crossed the aisle to help their constituents.

That means at least 400,000 Missourians and around 20,000 constituents right in her district will face catastrophic increases in their healthcare costs this month. Hospitals (a major employer in our area) are also teed up to lose by increasing the number of uninsured patients, jacking up bad debt, and forcing people into ERs unnecessarily.

She can’t even be bothered to put out a social media post justifying her vote.

As a matter of fact, since the vote she has only posted on social media about - and I’m not kidding - introducing a resolution celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first flight of the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet.

That’s her legislative agenda.

Not a word about her vote to screw her constituents. Not a single piece of legislation to make our lives better.

She got hers

We already knew Ann Wagner doesn’t care about us. We knew she was only in this for herself. What we didn’t fully know was just how much she was personally profiting while in office.

It’s all out there for us to see. She has made publicly trackable trades of over $1.31 million in volume this year alone.

When I speak to voters here you can hear an audible gasp when I tell them she made $3.6 million in one month alone. At that time in late June she had the 38th highest net worth of the entire 535 members of Congress.

When our public officials break their oaths to the people and the Constitution, and instead declare their loyalty to money and power, it’s a betrayal of the people who elected them to serve!

Just last month she was triumphantly announcing that she had helped end the Biden Department of Labor rule that said a financial advisor was required to inform their clients if an investment they were recommending would earn them a larger profit than others.

Yes, she fought what is called the “Fiduciary rule” to essentially keep advisors from having to inform your grandmother if they were making more money off of her and that might be a factor in their recommendation as opposed to what is best for her.

She called it a “victory for Main Street investors.”

No, it’s a victory for her donors.

I’m not that guy

Here’s the thing. I’m not running for Congress to get rich.

I’ve lost everything in my life financially twice - after 9/11 and during the pandemic.

I lost my first wife and unborn child in a car accident.

I know what it feels like to be down, to start over, to wonder how you’re going to climb back up. That experience stays with you. It shapes how you see the world and how you treat other people.

I have lived the need to get back up and start over again so much I had “I’m not done yet” tattooed on my arm to push me to keep fighting when things get hard.

Dear sweet departed River dog.

I’m running for office to help others climb, not to kick the ladder out from under them once I’ve made it.

That’s the difference between me and Ann Wagner. That’s the difference between me and most of the people we send to Washington.

I’ve lived life. I’ve lived hardship. I’ve lived here. I’ve talked to my neighbors. I’ve got kids who are struggling to make their way in a world we have stacked against them for years and then pulled the ladder up behind us.

I try not to make this space purely for my campaign but at this point I need to ask you for a favor.

If you believe Congress should work for the people, not for politicians padding their portfolios, I’m asking you to help me take this fight on.

Not only is Ann Wagner rich beyond measure…she is also sitting on at least a $4 million war chest.

If you’re able, please consider making a $4 contribution to support our campaign against a Congresswoman who’s increased her net worth by more than 400% while in office.

Thank you for being here, and thank you for standing with me.