The Washington Post has done a project highlighting where several dozen members of Congress have won earmarks over the years for projects in close proximity to real estate owned by the members of Congress or family members. U.S. Rep. Mike Ross of Prescott earned a spot on the list for $2.6 million he won to build a railroad overpass about 600 yards from a storage warehouse his family owns. He said he received no benefit from the project, intended to make it easy for emergency responders to get from one side of Prescott to the other when a train was passing. He noted that the warehouse wasn’t open to the public and that the town had been seeking an overpass since before he took office. (The link to the Post carries more of Ross’ response.)
The Washington Post missed another nearby Ross connection. In 2005, when Ross got the earmark, he still owned a drugstore nearby in downtown on the east side of Prescott, sold two years later to a drug chain for $1.2 million.