Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will raise money for House challenger David Schweikert (R) in Washington next week.

Schweikert is making his second bid to unseat Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Ariz.). The incumbent defeated Schweikert by nine points in 2008.

Schweikert, one of the National Republican Congressional Committee's top prospects, certainly needs the help. Mitchell had a $600,000 edge on him in cash on hand at the end of August.

The event is being held Sept. 28 at the Capitol Hill Club, according to the Schweikert camp. Tickets are $1,000 per PAC or $500 for an individual.

Facing a tough reelection race, New Jersey Rep. John Adler (D) has been taking full advantage of his franked-mail privileges.

By the end of June 30, the freshman Democrat had spent $480,000 in public money to mail and call his 3rd district constituents. That places him among the top spenders on constituent communications, according to an analysis of House disbursement reports by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Between January and March this year, his office spent $191,729 on mass communication — the third highest expenditure in the House.

Republican Jon Runyan, a former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman, argues that Adler is exploiting taxpayers’ money for political purposes. He said Adler's newsletters were "shameless self-promotion and carefully crafted campaign messages to help him win reelection."

In response, Adler's campaign circulated a video of Runyan saying that, if elected, he would stay in contact with constituents using the same means of communication.

Freshman Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) has also been criticized for his use of franked mail.

Delaware's Republican Senate nominee on Sunday made light of a years-old video clip in which she said, "I dabbled into witchcraft."

The Tea Party-backed Christine O'Donnell, who upset longtime Rep. Mike Castle in the state's primary last week, joked Sunday that she made the comments when she was in high school, asking, "How many of you didn't hang out with questionable folks in high school?

"There's been no witchcraft since," O'Donnell noted. "If there was, Karl Rove would be a supporter now."

The video clip surfaced Friday when TV host Bill Maher aired it. The 11-year-old clip was from a previously unaired episode of Maher's old show, "Politically Incorrect."

O'Donnell responded while attending a GOP event in Delaware on Sunday.

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Rove said O'Donnell needed to explain the comments to voters. "In southern Delaware, there are a lot of church-going people; they're probably going to want to know, What was that all about?" Rove said.

After traveling to Washington on Friday to speak at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit, O'Donnell canceled two Sunday show appearances, which drew fire from the campaign of her Democratic opponent, Chris Coons.

"Ms. O'Donnell has not yet provided a single solution or idea on how to get our economy back on track," Coons spokesman Daniel McElhatton said in a statement. "It is clear that she is simply not prepared to defend her positions."

O'Donnell's campaign said she returned to the state to attend church and keep a previously scheduled commitment to appear at a Republican picnic in Lincoln.

A new independent poll shows veteran Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) in control as of Monday in his bid to win a 29th term in the House.

Dingell, the longest-serving House member in history, leads his Republican opponent by 19 points, according to a Detroit News/WDIV poll released Monday.

Forty-nine-point-three percent of registered voters in Michigan's 15th congressional district said they'd choose to send the 84-year-old Dingell back to Washington, while 30.3 percent said they'd vote for Republican candidate Rob Steele.

While the number of voters who said they would reelect Dingell is just below the 50 percent threshold normally considered healthy for incumbents, he still maintains a commanding lead in the race. Thirteen percent of voters said they were undecided.

Dingell has still hustled to make sure he has the resources necessary to stave off any last-minute surges in November, seeking to protect against being swept up in any wave election in favor of the GOP.

The Michigan Democrat's fundraising pleas led last week to some Republican bravado, as well as a memo from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that outlined why Dingell would easily keep the district. The DCCC's memo pointed to the major party-ID advantages in the southeast Michigan district.

Still, if Republicans were to somehow pull off a victory in the race, it would be considered a major bellwether that could indicate a coming landslide for House Republicans this election.

The poll, conducted by Glengariff Group Inc. from Sept. 15-16, has a 4.9 percent margin of error.

Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Republican opponent wants to capitalize on speculation the Democrat will run to succeed Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Former Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) this weekend handily won his party’s nomination in the race to become the next governor of Hawaii.

Abercrombie beat out former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann in the primary race.

Abercrombie will face Republican Lt. Gov. James Aiona in November for the governor’s seat. Immediately after he defeated Hannemann with 60 percent of the vote, Abercrombie launched his general election in an effort to bring back Democrats in the governor’s office after eight years of Republican leadership.

Meanwhile, Aiona, a conservative Republican, cruised to his party’s nomination with 95 percent of the vote. His only challenger was lawyer John Carroll.

In the fight to win Abercrombie’s former House seat, Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii) who won the special election when Abercrombie retired, won his party’s nomination for the November election. On the Democratic side is was Democratic State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa who won the nomination this weekend.

Hawaii’s primary race on Saturday was the final primary day of the 2010 election cycle.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said Sunday that candidates should be "very proud of and be talking about" the healthcare reform law.

"Most Democrats that I see on the trail are very proud of the accomplishment," Kaine said on CNN's "State of the Union," adding that some in "gerrymandered districts" could be distancing themselves from the bill that ignited town hall meetings over last year's summer recess.

Kaine also said he was "fine" with debate and dialogue over extension of the Bush-era tax cuts taking place over the campaign season, but said he "wouldn't be surprised if it's after the election when the action takes place."

He addressed concerns about igniting the left to get to the polls by pointing out how the administration ended combat operations in Iraq and how Congress passed healthcare and Wall Street reform.

The economy would be a challenge as would indepdent voters who were turning away from President Obama, Kaine said, but he predicted that Democrats would not lose control of either chamber.

"We were in a ditch, a deep, deep chasm after a lost decade," he said of the slow recovery from recession that could hurt his party at the polls. "We're now climbing out of the ditch. We built a ladder with no help from the other guys."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) brushed off attacks by fellow GOP Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.) over her write-in bid against Joe Miller.

Republican strategist Karl Rove also pressed former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to go and campaign for “her favorite Christine O’Donnell.”