Fundraising

In Missouri's Senate contest, both candidates reported their best fundraising totals of the year in the third quarter, but Rep. Roy Blunt (R) still holds a solid cash-on-hand edge less than a month from Election Day.

After raising $2.4 million during the third quarter, Blunt is sitting on $3.7 million, compared to Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's $2 million. The Democrat raised $2.1 million in the third quarter. 

With polls continuing to show a solid lead for Blunt, national Democrats have backed away from the race over the past two weeks. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has scaled back their air support for Carnahan.  

Conservative-friendly outside groups have spent heavily in the race, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Crossroads, which has spent more than $1.5 million total to air ads targeting Carnahan. 

The latest Rasmussen poll in the race gives Blunt an 8-point edge — 51 percent to 43 percent.

There was a reason the Republican Governors Association delayed the release of its fundraising numbers — they were still counting the checks.

The committee announced Thursday it had raised a whopping $31 million in the third quarter. To put that in context, the Democratic Governors Association announced last week it raised $10 million in the same period.

Both committees are tasked with helping their party's nominees in gubernatorial contests. The RGA is headed by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), a former lobbyist noted for his fundraising prowess. The DGA is headed by first-term Delaware Gov. Jack Markell.

The RGA has now raised more than $59 million this cycle and ended September with $31.5 million cash on hand. Its Democratic counterpart has $13 million cash on hand.

The Republicans have set a goal of controlling 30 governorships after Election Day. To do that, the RGA will have to win 24 of the 37 gubernatorial elections taking place this year. Democrats control 19 of the governors' mansions up for grabs.

Dems have $41.6 million in the bank to spend on House races compared to GOP's $19 million.

Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty's three political action committees took in almost $778,000 in the third fundraising quarter, the last before the November midterm elections. 

Pawlenty, a potential 2012 presidential candidate, raised $777,980 between July 1 and Sept. 30, the vast majority ($556,799) coming through his Freedom First PAC. The governor's Iowa and New Hampshire PACs took in $135,505 and $85,676, respectively.

The governor's cash flow continues to trail behind the top two fundraisers in the field of possible GOP presidential primary candidates — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Romney raised $1.7 million in the third quarter and has raised $5.3 million through the end of September. Palin took in $1.2 million in the third quarter, putting her year-to-date total at $2.5 million. Pawlenty has raised a total of $1.8 million this year.

A Pawlenty spokesman noted that the governor raised the money he did while making trips to Iraq, Afghanistan and China while performing his duties as governor and raising money for the Republicans Governors Association. 

The three PACs have nearly $668,000 cash-on-hand through the end of September — over the three-month period, it doled out over $113,000 to GOP candidates around the countries, including the Senate campaigns of Christine O'Donnell (Del.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Dan Coates (Ind.), Carly Fiorina (Calif.), John Raese (W.Va.) and Ron Johnson (Wisc.)

He also doled out cash to the Republican parties of two early presidential primary states, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and he gave to the campaigns of several Iowa lawmakers.

Pawlenty's camp announced a number of endorsements in Michigan Thurdsay: the governor will donate $1,000 each to GOP Reps. Dave Camp, who could be the Ways and Means Committee chairman if Republicans take control of the House, and Thaddeus McCotter, a member of leadership.

He is donating the same amount to House candidates Dave Benishek, former Rep. Tim Walberg, Rob Steele, Bill Huizenga and Rocky Raczkowski. He is also giving a hand to GOP gubernatorial nominee Rick Snyder, who is leading his Democatic opponent Virg Bernero in the polls. 

—This post was updated at 12:39 p.m. 

Virginia Rep. Tom Perriello (D) trailed his Republican challenger in third-quarter fundraising but has a robust war chest for the final three weeks of the campaign.

The freshman Democrat raised some $810,000 in the last three months and now has more than $1.3 million cash-on-hand for the closing stages of the race.

Meanwhile, Perriello's opponent, state Sen. Robert Hurt (R), raised $900,000 in the third quarter. His campaign did not provide a cash-on-hand figure.

Reports are due to the Federal Election Commission by Oct. 15.

Last week, The Hill's 2010 midterm election poll showed Perriello trailing Hurt by a single point —44 percent to 45 percent — with 9 percent of likely voters undecided.

Perriello recently got the backing of the National Rifle Association and the Veterans of Foreign Wars PAC.

The political action committee of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin raised more than $1.2 million during the third quarter of the year, according to a report filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission. 

That haul easily tops the nearly $900,000 that SarahPAC brought in during the second quarter. 

The rumored 2012 presidential contender continued to dole out cash through her PAC to Republican candidates across the country. In all, Palin gave $66,000 to 15 Republican hopefuls.

Palin donated a total of $10,000 to the Senate campaigns of Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire. 

The PAC also gave donations of $5,000 to the Senate campaigns of Marco Rubio (Fla.), Joe Miller (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and John Hoeven (N.D.). 

Another $10,000 went to Iowa's Republican Party. In September, Palin was the headline speaker at a Republican Party dinner in the state, sparking heightened speculation that she might seek the Republican nomination in 2012.

Rep. Mark Critz (D-Pa.) continues to keep the Obama administration at arm's length, even as he accepts its fundraising help.

Critz represents Pennsylvania's 12th district, but traveled to Pittsburgh, which is in the 14th, on Monday for a fundraising event with Vice President Joe Biden.

During the special election earlier this year that saw him succeed the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), Critz benefited from a fundraiser that was also staged in the city.

Biden is thought to be unpopular in Critz's coal-country district because of comments he made about building coal power plants during the 2008 campaign.

During the midday event at the Rivers Club in downtown Pittsburgh, Critz acknowledged his differences with the Obama administration on coal issues.

"Although I'm at odds with the administration over this issue, he is
 willing to come here and campaign for me,'' Critz said of Biden.

Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pa.) also attended the event. "We do have a very tough race in front of us, both Mark and I,” she said, according to the pool report.

President Obama, meanwhile, was also helping his party raise money. He spoke at a fundraiser hosted by former NBA star Alonzo Mourning at his Coral Gables home. The $1 million expected to be raised from the event is going to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Florida Rep. Ron Klein (D).

The Republican Governors Association is holding off on releasing its third quarter fundraising numbers until next week, a spokesman said. The RGA's delay comes as the Democratic Governors Association announced Friday it had raised a "record" amount in the last quarter.

The DGA raised $10 million in the third quarter, its "third consecutive record-breaking quarter," according to a release. The committee now has $13 million cash on hand.

Moreover, independent groups the DGA supports — including Lone Star First in Texas, Building a Stronger Ohio and Bay State Future in Massachusetts — have an additional $3 million on hand.

In the second quarter, the DGA trailed its Republican counterpart in fundraising. It pulled in $9.1 million, which was less than half of what the RGA raised. The RGA raised $18.9 million in the second quarter, when it reported having some $40 million banked.

The DGA spent only $14 million in 2006.

The DGA's chairman said voters will have a clear "choice" in November. "In one, we will help middle class families continue to recover from this economic crisis. In the other, our country will revert to the same policies that caused this mess in the first place," Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) said in a statement.

When it comes to opposing shadowy outside groups that pour money into elections, Democracy 21's Fred Wertheimer is an equal-opportunity opponent — and he's not letting Karl Rove characterize him any differently.

Wertheimer issued an angry statement Friday in response to comments Rove made on Fox News casting Wertheimer as a liberal lobbyist bent on targeting only conservative-leaning groups for violating their tax-exempt status.

Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the IRS earlier this week complaining Crossroads GPS, a 501(c)(4) associated with Rove and longtime GOP booster Ed Gillespie had violated its tax-exempt status by participating in campaigns in direct support for or opposition to candidates for public office.

In a Tuesday appearance on Fox's Neil Cavuto, Rove acknowledged raising money for Crossroads GPS, along with an affiliated 527 group, American Crossroads. But he lashed out at Wertheimer, saying the watchdog had never taken issue with Democratic-leaning groups in previous election cycles.

"…What gets me is, I didn't see … groups like Crossroads GPS spent nearly $400 to $500 million on the Democratic ticket and the Democratic candidates in 2004. And we never heard one whisper from this lobbyist for liberal causes Mr. Werthimmer (sic)," Rove said.

Au contraire, Mr. Rove, Wertheimer protested in his release Friday.

The Republican candidate running for Rep. Joe Sestak's (D-Pa.) open seat came close to raising $1 million in the third quarter, according to his campaign.

Republican Pat Meehan's camp said Monday the former U.S. attorney raised $725,000 in the last three months. He now has $1.5 million cash on hand for the final month of the campaign.

"This support will help us deliver a strong message of lower taxes, smaller government and our commitment to creating jobs going into Election Day," Meehan said in a statement.

Meehan's Democratic opponent, state Rep. Bryan Lentz, has not yet released his third quarter figures. They're not due to the Federal Election Commission until Oct. 15. Lentz had $785,935 banked at the start of July. 

Sestak is leaving his seat to run for Senate.