The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee outraised its GOP counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee in the month of October, according to disclosures by both parties.

The DCCC will report raising $3.8 million last month, compared to $3.4 million for the NRCC. That's about the same amount both committees pulled in at the same point in the 2007-08 cycle, despite the fact that the economy has soured significantly since then.

However, like the NRCC, the DCCC spent more than it took in -- $4 million total in disbursements. A big chunk of that went to the hotly contested Nov. 4 special election to replace Rep. John McHugh (R) in New York's 23rd district. The DCCC reported $1.1 million in independent expenditures, total, on the race, which its candidate, Bill Owens (D), narrowly won.

The DCCC still has more than three times the cash-on-hand as the NRCC, with $14.5 million in the bank, and $3.3 million in debt. The NRCC will report $4.2 million cash on hand and $2 million in debt.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee outraised its partisan counterpart in October -- but the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ended up with roughly twice as much cash in the bank.

The NRSC raised about $4 million and had about $5.9 million in cash on hand as of Oct. 30, according to fundraising reports set to be filed with the Federal Election Commission later this week.

The campaign arm of Senate Republicans also spent about $3.1 million last month with a substantial sum going toward updating the committee's direct mail programs.

The DSCC raised $3.7 million in October and spent $2.7 million. The committee had $11.3 million in the bank at the end of the month and $2 million in remaining debts from the 2008 cycle.

House Republican leaders on Tuesday urged their members to come up with some cash for the National Republican Congressional Committee so the party will be fully prepared to fight for seats next fall.

The leaders, including Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio, NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas, NRCC Vice Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon and and Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas made no threats during the closed-door meeting of the Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club -- but they reminded lawmakers that winning back the majority is a team effort, according to several GOP sources inside the meeting.

"We can come all the way back if we work together," Sessions said.

"Stop complaining about [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and unseat Pelosi," Walden told members, according to two sources.

A former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee said Thursday that he is seeing a "momentum shift" away from Democrats ahead of the November 2010 elections but cautioned against making predictions of significant Republican gains more than a year before the balloting.

Former Virginia Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, who served in the House from 1995 through 2008 and now is president of the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership, told reporters that the first midterm election in a new presidential administration has almost always yielded seat gains in Congress to the party not controlling the White House.

Though Republicans still have poor approval ratings, they could make gains in a low-turnout 2010 election from voters who are uneasy with one-party rule in Washington. Democrats have advantages of 256-178 in the House and 59-40 in the Senate.

New York Assemblyman Greg Ball became the 15th candidate to join the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Young Guns" program Monday.

Ball, who is taking on second-term Democratic Rep. John Hall in New York's 19th District, was added to the first tier of the party program for GOP candidate recruits, known as "On the Radar," part of a three-step process toward earning the label "Young Gun." The program began in 2007 as a counterweight to a similar system used by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to groom their top crop of challengers, called "Red to Blue."

"By achieving 'On the Radar' status, Ball has already proven his ability to build a successful campaign structure and achieve important fundraising goals," the NRCC said in a release.

To move up, candidates are expected to meet certain outreach and fundraising benchmarks.

The prospect of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani running for New York governor in 2010 has some GOP congressional candidates sounding giddy.

Republican Assemblyman Greg Ball told CQ Politics he was "jumping for joy" at the idea of a Giuliani campaign, which is starting to look like a genuine possibility, according to a New York Times story published Tuesday. The Times reports that Giuliani "has told associates that he will decide on a candidacy within 30 to 60 days, as he weighs whether he can be elected statewide."

"If Rudy Giuliani has coattails it would be in Hudson Valley where he polls extremely well," said Ball, who is challenging second-term Democrat John Hall for the 19th District seat. Ball noted that his district is home to "a lot of New York City cops and firemen" who are a natural constituency for Giuliani.

Former Connecticut Rep. Rob Simmons isn't wasting any time in trying to consolidate local party support for his Senate bid in what could be a crowded primary.

The Simmons campaign announced on Monday it had secured the endorsement of Deputy House Republican Leader Bill Hamzy, a former Connecticut Republican Party chairman, adding to a string of GOP endorsements this summer that now includes state House Republican Leader Larry Cafero, state Sen. Tony Guglielmo and 20 members of the Republican State Central Committee.

The party will endorse a candidate to take on Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, who is battling the lowest approval ratings of his career, at its convention, which is slated for May 21-22, 2010. Other candidates can still run in the primary, but the party nod could provide important momentum.

Facing little political risk, but sensing the opportunity for free press, some 2010 Republican House challengers are holding their own health care town hall meetings.

Hoping to highlight the incumbents' decision not to hold similar meetings, New York Assemblyman Greg Ball, former Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg and Florida U.S. Army veteran Allen West announced this week that they are holding their own health care events.

Ball, who is challenging second-term Democrat John Hall, said in a statement that he "will be addressing the current Congressman's failure to engage the public in dialogue regarding H.R. 3200, derisively known as 'ObamaCare,' by hosting a series of town hall meetings next week throughout the 19th congressional district." The Hudson Valley's Times Herald-Record noted that Hall is "steering clear of town-hall-style meetings," though he has conducted a listening tour on health care throughout his district and is soliciting feedback from constituents via his congressional Web site.

The Republican Party's best chance to pick up a House seat in Connecticut lies in the 4th District represented by a freshman Democrat Jim Himes, but state Sen. John McKinney's decision to pass on a challenge to Himes now leaves the prospects for the GOP in the hands of three young congressional hopefuls, none north of his mid-30s.

The two most serious contenders at this point are state Sen. Dan Debicella of Shelton, Conn., who graduated from college in 1996, and attorney and former state Sen. Robert Russo, who earned his bachelors' degree in '97. Both are in exploratory mode, having backed McKinney until his surprise announcement last week that we would not seek the seat.

McKinney, a top GOP recruit, told local press that he didn't want to give up time with his family to run for Congress.

The health care ad assault continues this week, led by a $1.2 million ad campaign launched by conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth.

The Club is targeting members of the House and Senate from four states whom it believes "may be persuaded to reject a government-run health insurance program" -- read, centrist Democrats, many with competitive contests on the horizon.

Those targeted include: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada; Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall of Colorado; Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas; and Byron L. Dorgan and Kent Conrad of North Dakota.

Democratic represenatives include Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Mike Ross of Arkansas; Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, John Salazar, Betsy Markey and Ed Perlmutter of Colorado; and Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota.

The ads, which Club for Growth said will "run throughout the August recess," seeks to play up seniors' fear that the Democrats' proposed health care overhaul will lead to government intervention in end-of-life decisions, or as Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan less artfully put it last week, "government-encouraged euthanasia."