Rep. John Dingell, the 84-year-old Democrat who was once one of the most powerful and feared members of Congress, is facing a serious challenge from Republican Rob Steele, a respected cardiologist who, at 52, was born three years after Dingell entered the House in 1955.
In a sign of concern over the race, Dingell, who in the past has walked over challengers with 65 percent of the vote or more, has just released an ad attacking Steele. This is the script:
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Cracking down on Medicare waste.
Holding BP, not the taxpayers, accountable.
Keeping tainted food off the shelves.
Now meet millionaire Rob Steele, Wall Street’s yes man.
Yes to Wall Street control of seniors’ Social Security.
Yes to tax cuts for wealthy Wall Street bankers.
Yes to tax loopholes for corporations that ship our jobs overseas.
Wall Street over working families?
Say no to Rob Steele’s Wall Street agenda.
Steele is a heart specialist, not a hedge fund manager, and yet Dingell used the phrase “Wall Street” five times in the ad. As a doctor and an aspiring lawmaker, Steele finds the whole thing more than a little strange. “It’s insanity in a general sense,” he told me. “I’ve been working nose to the grindstone for 30 years. What do I have to do with outsourcing jobs? What do I have to do with Wall Street?” Steele stresses that his top issues in the campaign are federal spending, accountability, and transparency.
As for the reference to “millionaire Rob Steele,” Steele has undoubtedly been successful in his career as a physician and a co-founder of Michigan Heart PC. But Dingell has somehow managed to do quite well on the public payroll. Last November, the Detroit News reported that Dingell is the wealthiest member of the Michigan delegation, with a net worth of about $2.6 million. That does not include the substantial assets of his heiress wife Debbie, who has been quite successful as a Washington lobbyist (often on issues under her husband’s jurisdiction).
And as far as campaign cash is concerned, who is getting what from whom? According to OpenSecrets, Dingell’s campaign committee and leadership PAC had raised $1,155,698 as of July 14, with 75 percent of it coming from PACs and 24 percent coming from individuals. Steele had raised $213,486, with 0 percent of it coming from PACs and 89 percent from individuals. (The remaining 11 percent came from Steele himself.)
The largest portion of Dingell’s PAC cash came from the health care sector, which hoped to profit from Dingell’s support of Obamacare. Next was labor unions. Next was the energy sector — Dingell had been chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Next was lawyers and lobbyists. Individuals, not so much, although Dingell is now trying a “money bomb” to raise more money.
“For him to be calling me a millionaire, it’s just crazy,” Steele says, “when he’s obviously the one who is tied to corporate money and special interests and PACs.”
