With less than six months to go before the midterm elections, campaigns are fundraising tirelessly and have been for the past year. And some campaigns had a good leg up from fundraising efforts last year. The Federal Election Commission recently released the top 50 House campaigns in terms of fundraising in 2009. South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson's campaign came in first with $3,394,438 and his opponent, Robert Miller, whom he beat in a close race in 2008, is not too far behind. Miller's campaign came in 8th place, with $2,024,628. New York Democrat Scott Murphy, who was elected to Congress in a special election just last year, came in second, with $3,255,768. Minority Leader John Boehner came in 5th, with $2,386,209, ahead of Nancy Pelosi, whom he could replace as House Speaker if the GOP is able to take control of the House.
Here is the FEC's list of the top 50 house campaigns in 2009:
| Rank | Candidate | State | District | Party | Incumbent/Challenger/Open Seat | Receipts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Wilson | SC | 2 | REP | INCUMBENT | $3,394,438 |
| 2 | * Scott Murphy | NY | 20 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $3,255,768 |
| 3 | William Russell | PA | 12 | REP | OPEN | $2,920,937 |
| 4 | Eric Cantor | VA | 7 | REP | INCUMBENT | $2,607,099 |
| 5 | John Boehner | OH | 8 | REP | INCUMBENT | $2,386,209 |
| 6 | Alan Grayson | FL | 8 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $2,369,652 |
| 7 | Steny Hoyer | MD | 5 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $2,326,752 |
| 8 | Rob Miller | SC | 2 | DEM | CHALLENGER | $2,024,628 |
| 9 | * Judy Chu | CA | 32 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,912,103 |
| 10 | * Douglas Hoffman | NY | 23 | REP | OPEN | $1,864,402 |
| 11 | Charlie Rangel | NY | 15 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,845,775 |
| 12 | Jim Himes | CT | 4 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,695,877 |
| 13 | John Adler | NJ | 3 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,669,162 |
| 14 | James Clyburn | SC | 6 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,658,993 |
| 15 | Gary Peters | MI | 9 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,572,983 |
| 16 | Carolyn Maloney | NY | 14 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,548,551 |
| 17 | Michele Bachmann | MN | 6 | REP | INCUMBENT | $1,545,929 |
| 18 | Nancy Pelosi | CA | 8 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,542,087 |
| 19 | Howard Berman | CA | 28 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,505,683 |
| 20 | Patrick Murphy | PA | 8 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,490,441 |
| 21 | Bill Foster | IL | 14 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,454,857 |
| 22 | Allyson Schwartz | PA | 13 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,449,004 |
| 23 | Daniel Maffei | NY | 25 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,438,618 |
| 24 | * William Owens | NY | 23 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,415,938 |
| 25 | Mark Schauer | MI | 7 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,413,971 |
| 26 | Chet Edwards | TX | 17 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,405,254 |
| 27 | Ron Klein | FL | 22 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,401,692 |
| 28 | Michael McCaul | TX | 10 | REP | INCUMBENT | $1,391,855 |
| 29 | Douglas Pike | PA | 6 | DEM | CHALLENGER | $1,360,304 |
| 30 | Vern Buchanan | FL | 13 | REP | INCUMBENT | $1,338,992 |
| 31 | Barney Frank | MA | 4 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,323,519 |
| 32 | Shelley Berkley | NV | 1 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,319,169 |
| 33 | Zachary Space | OH | 18 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,309,290 |
| 34 | Christopher Murphy | CT | 5 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,281,374 |
| 35 | Jason Altmire | PA | 4 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,267,458 |
| 36 | Deborah Halvorson | IL | 11 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,252,066 |
| 37 | Joe Barton | TX | 6 | REP | INCUMBENT | $1,247,588 |
| 38 | * Joan Buchanan | CA | 10 | DEM | OPEN | $1,247,542 |
| 39 | Brad Goehring | CA | 11 | REP | CHALLENGER | $1,230,934 |
| 40 | John Larson | CT | 1 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,224,365 |
| 41 | Steve Israel | NY | 2 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,222,862 |
| 42 | Allen West | FL | 22 | REP | CHALLENGER | $1,220,308 |
| 43 | Michael McMahon | NY | 13 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,201,234 |
| 44 | * John Garamendi | CA | 10 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,198,351 |
| 45 | Gabrielle Giffords | AZ | 8 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,191,378 |
| 46 | Erik Paulsen | MN | 3 | REP | INCUMBENT | $1,189,140 |
| 47 | Patrick Tiberi | OH | 12 | REP | INCUMBENT | $1,185,084 |
| 48 | Betsy Markey | CO | 4 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,179,897 |
| 49 | Frank Pallone | NJ | 6 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,172,643 |
| 50 | Walt Minnick | ID | 1 | DEM | INCUMBENT | $1,163,564 |
*SPECIAL ELECTION ACTIVITY
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Jsmith of VA 8:48AM August 30, 2010