An Iowa Republican Senate candidate isn’t sure United States senators make that much money.
“I don’t think U.S. senators make that much money, but again, you know, I’m willing to make significant investment of my time and energy here to help solve the problems we have in this country,” Mark Jacobs, the candidate, said according to MSNBC. Jacobs (pictured) is the former president and CEO of Reliant Energy.
The Jacobs campaign later clarified to MSNBC that Jacobs hasn’t “really looked into how much U.S. senators make. The point he was trying to make is that no matter what U.S. senators make, he’s not doing it for the money.”
United States senators make $174,000 a year according to a January Congressional Research Service report.
Just before noon on Monday the Jacobs campaign sent a longer statement to TPM.
“I misspoke in hearing the question for the first time and want to make clear I didn’t enter into this Senate race because of the salary,” Jacobs said in the statement. “I’m running for public office because I want to serve the families of Iowa and know that I have done something for them, our great state and our country. I’ve said that I’ve always believed someone should be paid for the work they do, so what troubles me the most is that Congress continues to receive their paychecks year in and year out even though they fail to pass a budget. This shouldn’t happen and when I’m in the Senate I’d work to make sure no one receives a paycheck if they can’t pass a yearly budget.”
The Iowa Senate race has included a few regrettable comments among all the candidates. On the Democratic side, Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) was hammered by Republicans for saying that if Republicans take control of the chamber a mere farmer could become a chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (Braley later apologized for the remark).
Jacobs is one of a number of candidates running in the Republican primary for the nomination to succeed Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). In December Jacobs said the best way to connect with women is on an “emotional level.”
This post was updated.
