Jason Taylor, a defensive end for the Miami Dolphins football team, gave $10,000 to the DCCC last month. (Football fans, especially those in the nation's capital, will recall that Taylor played last year for the Washington Redskins, who probably wish they had him this season.)

Robert Kraft, the owner of the perennial powerhouse New England Patriots, also gave $10,000 to the DCCC. Kraft contributes frequently to Democratic Party organizations and candidates.

Hoffman conceded to Bill Owens (D) after election night returns on Nov. 4 showed a comfortable margin for the latter. Owens has since been sworn in to Congress.

But amid absentee ballot counting and allegations of voting machine glitches, Hoffman decided to un-concede earlier this week. His Web site home page now declares "Election Day is NOT over" and encourages supporters to donate. Hoffman's campaign plans to "take a close look" at the count once the last batch of absentee and overseas ballots have been tallied, "hopefully today," said spokesman Rob Ryan.

Harris earned 52 percent to Kratovil's 39 percent with just 10 percent undecided according to a survey of 300 likely 1st district voters. The poll, which was conducted Nov. 15 - 17 for Harris' campaign by the Tarrance Group, had a 5.8 point margin of error.

In further bad news for the freshman Congressman the survey found that just 29 percent of voters said they believe Kratovil deserves to be re-elected. Twenty-three percent were unsure and 49 percent believed a new person deserved a chance.

Kratovil defeated Harris by less than 3,000 votes in one of the closest elections of the 2008 cycle. This year, Harris is back for a rematch and has the support of much of the state and national party establishment. Still Harris may not have the primary field to himself. Wealthy state Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R), who was involved in a nasty three-way primary with Harris last cycle, is rumored to be considering making another run at the nomination.

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 Democratic National Committee outraised the Republican National Committee in October, a month in which both national party committees ramped up their fundraising and spent lavishly just ahead of the momentous Nov. 3 elections in Virginia and New Jersey.

The DNC will report later Friday to the Federal Election Commission that it raised $11.5 million and spent about $14 million in October, leaving it with about $12.3 million in the bank and $4.4 million in debts.

A party source said that was the DNC's largest one-month take in an odd-numbered year since an overhaul of campaign finance laws in 2002 banned the national political parties from accepting so-called "soft money."

The Denver Business Journal reported Thursday that Jimmy Lakey, who owns concert promotion and artist management companies, has formed an "exploratory committee" to prepare for a possible run in Colorado's 7th district, which includes suburbs of Denver.

The report said that Lakey is concerned about "reckless spending" in Washington, D.C.

Eager to increase their ranks beyond 40 seats, several GOP senators donated to Castle through their leadership political action committees, according to reports the organizations filed before a deadline today.

Among those senators who reported giving to Castle in October were Thad Cochran (Miss.), whose Senate Victory Fund PAC gave $10,000; Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), whose OrrinPAC donated $5,000; Pat Roberts (Kan.), whose Preserving America's Traditions PAC gave $5,000; and Mike Johanns (Neb.), whose Prairieland PAC donated $2,000.

The NRCC raised $3.4 million in October, but spent $3.6 million. That's only slightly more than what the committee brought in during the month September. The committee will report having $4.2 million cash on hand and $2 million in debt at the end of the month.

Much of those expended funds came from the NRCC's independent expenditure in the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district. The committee spent almost $900,000 on the GOP nominee, Dede Scozzafava, who dropped out of the race the weekend before the election and now-Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) went on to win the seat.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is expected to release their fundraising totals later today.

Perry's ad, released Thursday, says that he cut taxes, created jobs and balanced the budget in Texas, where Perry is seeking a third full term but faces serious intraparty competition from Hutchison, a senator since 1993.

Though the governor's ad doesn't specifically mention Hutchison, Perry's chief opponent in the March 2010 primary, it does briefly display a picture of Hutchison, presumably at a press conference in the nation's capital, as a narrator says the words, "While Washington gives us politics."

New York media outlets reported Thursday afternoon that Giuliani has decided not to run for governor in 2010 but that he is still mulling a Senate bid. A report in the New York Daily News, citing unnamed sources, said Giuliani had decided to run for Senate.

But a Giuliani spokeswoman said in a statement that no decision has been made.

"Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it," spokeswoman Maria Comella said. "When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own."

If he runs, this would be the second time Giuliani has sought this Senate seat. He mounted a brief campaign for what was then an open seat in 2000 but ended his campaign after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Zaun, who is serving his second four-year term in the Iowa Senate, told CQ Politics Thursday afternoon that he would make a formal announcement of his political plans after Dec. 1.

"And my intentions are to run against Leonard Boswell," said Zaun, a vice president at the commercial real estate firm R&R Realty.

The memo by Marshall's polling firm, Lake Research Partners, draws on two recent polls to come to the conclusion that "Senator Burr is vulnerable. Voters have a net-unfavorable impression of him and a strong plurality is ready to vote for someone else. Secretary Marshall is well-liked and a strong competitor against Burr."

The memo may be an overt attempt to catch the eye of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who is often viewed as a king maker in Senate primaries.

The memo comes just days after the DSCC's top prospect in the race, Rep. Bob Etheridge (N.C.), decided to skip the Senate race and instead run for re-election in 2010. In the wake of that announcement Democratic sources indicated that the DSCC would try to get former state Sen. Cal Cunningham to reconsider his recent decision to pass on the Senate contest.

Cunningham, who is popular among progressives in the Tar Heel State, had been quietly putting together a campaign organization in recent months with the help of the DSCC.

Gibbons, a former championship wrestling coach at Iowa State University, is seeking the Republican nomination to oppose Boswell in the 3rd district in and around Des Moines.

Gibbons, who left coaching in 1992 and is now a financial adviser and television analyst, told The Iowa Republican blog that he is "concerned about the direction of the country. Spending is out of control in Washington; it's unsustainable."

Coakley will report cash-on-hand of more than $1.9 million in her pre-primary financial disclosure, covering the period between Oct. 1 and Nov. 18.

Her fundraising edges fellow Democrat Rep. Mike Capuano (Mass.), who announced Wednesday evening that he raised $1.8 million in the period and had $1.1 million cash-on-hand.

Dean Madere, a self-described "average middle class citizen" who has been active in local conservative groups, formally kicked off his campaign Wednesday. He is the fourth Republican to announce plans to seek the district in northern and eastern Colorado that Markey won last year by beating then-Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave.

Madere's announcement came a few days after Diggs Brown, a financial adviser and military veteran, said that he would be a candidate.