While the financial health of most Americans has suffered during the recent years of economic downturn, retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman has more than doubled his personal assets in the past seven years.

New Mexico's senior senator, a Democrat, is worth somewhere between $6.8 million and $25 million now, while back in 2004, Bingaman's net worth was between $2.6 million and $11.1 million.

These figures were compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics based upon Bingaman's required annual financial statements. The center only has been compiling these figures since 2004. The most recent filing was for the year 2010.

Bingaman is hardly alone in being a Congress member whose wealth has increased even during financial hard times. Rep. Steve Pearce, R- Hobbs, reported a net worth of between $6.2 million and $27.6 million in 2004. By his 2010 report those figures had risen to between $8 million and $37.2 million.

The Washington Post recently analyzed congressional financial statements — going all the way back to 1984. "Between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled ... from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, excluding home equity," the Post said in an article published this week.

"Over the same period, the wealth of an American family has declined slightly, with the comparable median figure sliding from $20,600 to $20,500, according to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from the University of Michigan," the Post reported.

But not all of New Mexico's delegation have seen their fortunes rise like Bingaman in recent years. Sen. Tom Udall's net worth has remained fairly steady since 2004. His estimated net worth remains as high as about $3.59 million, up just slightly from $3.4 million seven years ago.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep Ben Ray Luján, D-Santa Fe, actually has fewer financial assets than he did when he entered Congress in 2007 and has a long way to go before he could ever hope to join the congressional "millionaire club."

Likewise, U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-Albuquerque, who is running for Bingaman's Senate seat, also saw his finances dip since he entered Congress in 2007.

The Center for Responsive Politics' website, OpenSecrets.org, explains, "It is difficult to gauge what a lawmaker is worth based on what they file because the disclosure forms do not require exact values. Instead, the lawmaker reports the range of value into which an asset, for example, falls. As the values increase, the ranges get broader."

To calculate the net worth of Congress members, the center added together the lawmaker's range of assets and then subtracted their range of liabilities.

Bingaman's 130-page financial disclosure lists numerous investment accounts, most of which are owned by his wife, Anne Bingaman. The senator's report lists his wife as a self-employed consultant whose earnings are "more than $1,000" a year. Congressional finance statements do not require a Congress member to list a spouse's salary.

Anne Bingaman, a lawyer, is a former chief of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. Her major investments are in Goldman Sachs Financial Square Treasury Instruments Fund and a note with Samba Holdings, an Albuquerque investment company. Each account is valued between $1 million and $5 million.

Among the Bingamans' liabilities was $10,000 to $15,000 in check overdraft protection with Citibank in Washington, D.C., and a revolving line of credit, also at CitiBank and also reported at $10,000 to $15,000.

Udall's largest asset list is an investment valued between $500,000 and $1 million with a company called Pacific Select Value.

When he first came to Congress in 2007, Luján's net worth was between $50,001 and $234,999. But according to his 2010 report, his net worth is at least $16,000 but no more than $65,000. The major factor in this decline is that in his 2007 report, Luján reported real estate in El Rancho valued at $100,001 to $250,000. However, he quit listing that property as an asset in subsequent reports.

Lujan's only assets listed are his New Mexico Public Employees' Retirement Association account and a checking account at Wells Fargo bank.

Heinrich's net worth is estimated between $19,015 and $120,000.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.