It may be a long shot, but it is possible that the next Congress will seat two hedge fund professionals. The big news is Jack Carter, the son of President Jimmy Carter, handily trounced his opponent in the Nevada Democratic Senate primary this week, grabbing 76% of the vote while his opponent, Ruby Jee Tun, got peanuts – a paltry 9%. That, however, was the easy part. Now the going may get tough because he’s been way behind Republican incumbent Sen. John Ensign in the polls; in one survey, taken a few days before the primary, he trails 54% to 33%, though he’s in shouting distance (46% to 39%) in another. The native Georgian– the only of the former prez’s kids to give politics a go – moved to Nevada after being a hedge fund adviser in Bermuda. He still continues his business in his new home, but one would be hard pressed to find the name of his firm in any media reports. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, another hedgie is making his play for Congress. Phil Maymin, founder of Greenwich, Conn.-based Maymin Capital Management, has managed to accumulate enough signatures to run in the state’s 4th Congressional District as a Libertarian candidate. Maymin is hoping voters will invest in him as an alternative for those “sick and tired of the stranglehold the two-part system has taken of our liberties.”
