Posted by Mollie Simon on Dec. 16, 2019
Senate freshmen are among the best paying senators, according to a LegiStorm analysis of salary data from the most recent disclosure.
Overall, Senate freshman had a median office salary of $63,886 compared to $59,044 for all senators. On the House side, freshman had a median office salary of $48,344 compared to $50,388 for the House at-large.
Among the top ten highest paying Senate offices, three first-term Senators made the list: Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) with a median office salary of $81,823, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) with a median of $75,728 and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) with a median of $75,275. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), came in spot 11 paid a median of $73,259.
Among representatives serving their first terms, Rep. Ross Spano (R-Fla.) topped the staff salary list at a median of $61,162. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) was the highest paying Democratic freshman, with a median office salary of $60,000.
On the other end of the spectrum, Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) was the lowest paying freshmen with a median office salary of $38,382.
Freshmen legislators for both the House and Senate steered clear of high office turnover compared to peers, according to LegiStorm staff turnover index. None of the freshmen made the list of top 10 offices with the highest turnover.
