Burris' Assets Totaled at Least $900,000 in 2008

By Kalyn Belsha in News on Apr 18, 2009 3:45PM

Sen. Roland Burris and his wife had assets worth an estimated $906,000 to $1.8 million last year, according to a report Burris filed with the secretary of the U.S. Senate, which was provided to the Sun-Times before the document's public release next month.

The majority of the couple's net worth came from investment holdings. Burris also confirmed he owned a stake in land located near a proposed Native American casino site in Lynwood, a southern suburb. At the time the junior senator and others bought the land, Burris was lobbying for the approval of casino plans on behalf of the Ho-Chunk Nation tribe.

While the junior senator has publicly stated he cannot afford the mounting legal bills associated with his defense in the ongoing Blagojevich ethics probe and perjury investigation -- pegged at more than $111,000 by the Tribune -- Burris and his wife made $338,000 last year.

According to the federal financial disclosure, the couple's income came from a variety of sources, including legal work, their pensions, Burris' now-defunct consulting firm and the senator's position on a real estate development company's board. Burris' 2008 pension was reported to be $118,201 -- the result of his 16-year tenure as Illinois' state comptroller and attorney general. He also made a reported $493,492 from the breakup of his lobbying firm, Burris & Lebed Consulting.

In other Burris news, a new report by Rasmussen, a public opinion polling company, showed only 19 percent of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of the senator. Only 4 percent of the potential voters said they would definitely vote for Burris if he ran again in 2010. Despite the less than favorable polls results and only $845 in campaign donations from January to March of this year, Burris' media and political consultant Delmarie Cobb told the Sun-Times a bid for re-election was still a possibility. [AP Photo]