The findings provide one of the most detailed portraits to date of the grassroots movement that started last year.

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Two top Republicans in Congress on Sunday said that the Republican National Committee (RNC) needs to get its fiscal house in order lest they lose the support of loyal donors.

The RNC has come under fire from some members of the GOP and conservatives since it was reported that the committee reimbursed several young donors for a party at a Los Angeles bondage-themed nightclub. The incident shined light on other examples of high-spending at the party. 

But Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and House Minority Chief Deputy Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) both stopped short of calling for chairman Michael Steele's resignation, as most Republican leaders have.

"Well, I'm not in the position of the people who elect Michael Steele to either say he should step down or not. But this kind of thing has got to stop or they won't get any contributions," Kyl said on Fox News Sunday. "The people that contribute to the committees, both Democrat and Republican, want to know that their money is well spent for the cause, and it needs to be that way."

The Republicans' comments show that, as primary contests loom, pressure on the RNC is continuing to build after a week in which the committee faced harsh criticism.

Several high-profile donors, especially those from socially conservative groups, have called on their supporters to stop giving to the RNC. Alternative Republican groups have begun to spring up that appear to have similar missions to the RNC, which are to fundraise and help elect Republican candidates.

The RNC has said that Steele did not personally know of the reimbursements and fired the official who authorized them. The committee also shined light on examples of spending at the Democratic National Committee, but critics have said they are not as risque as the RNC expenditures.

"Look, I'm very focused on House races, but the RNC does have some challenges that they need to correct. Not only does the American people request it but the Republicans requested it as well," McCarthy, who is recruitment chairman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said on Fox.

McCarthy credited Steele for raising solid amount of donations and helping elect Republicans in gubernatorial races and the Massachusetts special Senate election, but said that the RNC needs to pull itself together, perhaps with more staff shakeups, in order to have robust success in the fall.

"If we are going to show that -- the American public that we believe in accountability and bringing it back to Washington, we have to make sure that the RNC has the accountability just the same," he said. "You've got to bring the trust back, and that may mean shaking some other roles inside the RNC as well. 

Cross-posted to the Briefing Room

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) gave peeks Sunday at the "Commitment to America" that would guide Republicans into midterm elections.

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After Democrats gained 55 seats the last two cycles, Republicans are primed to gain potentially dozens back in a series of swings.

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) will campaign for Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio (R) on Monday.

Rubio's campaign made the announcement Friday afternoon. Giuliani was an early front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2007 and 2008 but his campaign fizzled early in the primary race.

Giuliani, who was mayor during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, can give Republican candidates a good deal of national security cache. 

Rubio has staged a challenge to Gov. Charlie Crist (R), who was presumed to be the frontrunner in the Senate primary months ago. But Rubio has opened big leads over Crist in several polls and has drawn support from Tea Party activists.

The New Yorker tried hard to win Florida during the GOP primary but failed. He courted Crist for an endorsement, but the governor eventually backed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich (R) released his 2008 tax returns Friday -- a move that could blunt Democratic attacks that he profited from the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

His campaign also released a copy of his 2009 financial disclosure statement ahead of the Monday deadline. The records show Kasich is a millionaire.

Kasich, a former congressman, was a managing director at the investment bank before it went bankrupt in 2008. The returns show he made nearly $1.4 million in income that year, including $587,175 in salary and bonuses from Lehman. He also reported earning $265,000 as a Fox News commentator, $165,718 in speaking fees, $19,777 earned by his wife, Karen, and $61,538 from Schottenstein Property Group, his current employer, according to the Associated Press.

The Columbus Dispatch had requested that Kasich release his tax returns for the eight years he was at Lehman, but the campaign said the 2008 return was "generally reflective of his earnings for those years and declined to release more."

Gov. Ted Strickland's (D) campaign didn't buy it.

Strickland spokeswoman Lis Smith said Kasich was "insulting the intelligence" of Ohio voters "by refusing to release the details of his seven-plus years of employment at the Wall Street investment firm Lehman Brothers and his professional paid speaking appearances to special interest groups across the country."

But Kasich spokesman Scott Milburn said the campaign went beyond the financial disclosure required by campaign finance laws.

"We're doing this primarily to show that he did not profit from Lehman Brothers' demise," Milburn said. "His stock in Lehman Brothers is effectively worthless now."

Updated at 6:06 p.m.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) won the most intense Senate race of the 2004 cycle, defeating a sitting Senate majority leader in former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).

In 2010? Thune gets a pass. And it could be a big development for his hopes in 2012 – or beyond.

No candidate filed to oppose Thune before the deadline this week, in a development that should benefit whatever designs the up-and-coming senator has on running for president in the coming years.

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Frank Guinta could be in trouble.

The Manchester mayor was a highly touted GOP recruit to run against Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), but he has been dogged by less-than-stellar fundraising. And now, a lesser-known and newer Republican candidate has leapfrogged Guinta's fundraising pace.

Businessman Rich Ashooh's campaign will report raising more than $200,000 in about eight weeks in the first quarter. Guinta, who was in the race for most of 2009, raised $300,000 in three quarters last year.

“When Rich Ashooh files his first quarter fundraising report, it will show that he has raised over $200,000 in the last eight weeks (which is) more than any other N.H. candidate for Congress has raised thus far during a single quarter in the 2010 campaign cycle," said an adviser to Ashooh's campaign, Jamie Burnett.

Guinta is also expected to face a well-funded challenger in another recent entry -- Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney.

First-quarter numbers aren't yet available for Guinta and Mahoney.

Ashooh's total was first reported by NHPoliticalReport.com.

UPDATE 1:23 p.m.: Guinta's campaign now tells the website that his receipts in the first quarter will be $250,000 -- though it appears that number could include a sizeable loan from the candidate.

Although she was the N.Y. GOP nominee, Scozzafava was never embraced by conservatives and eventually dropped out of the race.

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