Since the cancellation of the first two weeks of the NBA season—then another two weeks—many have expressed their anger and disappointment at the league. If a deal is not reached by tomorrow, the deadline imposed by the NBA for the players’ union to accept its offer, much of the season may be lost.

There is one group of fans who may have cause for frustration beyond not seeing their favorite teams play. That would be members of Congress, who use NBA games as a opportunity to fundraise for their campaigns.

NBA Commissioner David Stern

Going back to 2008, there have been at least 45 fundraisers at NBA games, all but four of which were held at the Verizon Center, home to the Washington Wizards, according to an analysis of Party Time records. Right now, perhaps because of the lockout, there are no upcoming NBA fundraisers on the schedule. Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., hosted the most recent one: a Boston Celtics versus Wizards game in April. (Since Party Time invitations come from lobbyist sources, as opposed to official reports, there could be events scheduled that are not in the database.)

Members of Congress sometimes hold these swanky events back in their home states. Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., held one at the Prudential Center, home to the New Jersey Nets, in April. Just in case donors weren’t sure, the invitation clarified that “Food & Beverages will be served in Luxury Box.” Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., included a Phoenix Suns game in his “All Sports Weekend” fundraiser back in March.

Fundraising at NBA games, as with other sporting events, is a very good way for lawmakers to bring in thousands of dollars per supporter. The ticket prices on invitations ranged from $500 for an individual ticket to $5,000 for a PAC to be named a ‘host.’ In federal reports, there is no way to track how much a particular politician rakes in at a specific game–contributions reported later to the Federal Election Commission do not indicate where the money was raised.

What can politicians do if a deal is not reached? There’s always college hoops. Plenty of fundraisers—at least 26—have been centered around the NCAA Tournament, known as March Madness, in March and early April, according to an analysis of Party Time files. These events include both watch parties held at bars and luxury suites at the games. Eleven such events were held earlier this year alone, when part of the tournament was played at the Verizon Center. Another nine congressional fundraisers have been scheduled at Georgetown Hoyas games, also played at the Verizon Center, over the years. Former Rep. Dan Maffei, D-N.Y., whose old upstate New York district encompasses fierce Georgetown rival Syracuse University, scheduled fundraisers in 2009 and 2010 when the Orange came to the District.

Hockey is also an option. So far this season, three congressmen (Sander Levin, D-Mich., Sires, and Mike Quigley, D-Ill.) have booked fundraisers to watch the Washington Capitals play. The invitation to Quigley’s event, scheduled for Nov. 29, features a photo of the congressman hoisting the Stanley Cup when his favorite team, the Chicago Blackhawks, won in 2010. This will be the fourth consecutive season that the congressman is hosting a hockey moneymaker at the Verizon Center.

It is also still NFL season and lawmakers have planned at least three fundraisers at football games this year. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn. will be having a leadership PAC fundraiser at FedEx Field on Dec. 11 when the Washington Redskins take on the New England Patriots. On August 25, Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., hosted one at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore for a preseason matchup between the Ravens and Redskins. On Oct. 9, Tom Rooney, D-Fla. had a fundraiser at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh featuring the Steelers and Tennessee Titans. Politicians have even held tailgating fundraisers.

In the spring and summer, baseball has also been a popular option for legislators’ fundraisers. Two such events stand out. In 2009, the Leadership PAC for Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa,. hosted an exclusive event at the Philadelphia Phillies’ spring training complex, including a brunch with players and broadcasters and a private tour with the team owner (tickets could be had for $2,500 or $5,000). In 2008, James McGovern, D-Mass., offered a tour of Fenway Park to go along with a Boston Red Sox game. Tickets went for $5,000 and $2500 for PACs and $2,300 for individuals.

Finally, there’s always tennis, at least for one lawmaker. Congressman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, has used the US Open in Queens, N.Y. to hold events each of the past two summers, attempting to raise $2,500-per-head for his leadership PAC.

If the NBA season ends up being canceled altogether, members of Congress will be sure to find other sporting events—or other attractive forms of entertainment—to raise money.

At least five congressmen do not need to fill out a bracket in an office pool to make money off the N.C.A.A. tournament.

A spot in a luxury suite to watch the first two rounds of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament in the nation’s capital can cost as much as $1,000, and lawmakers’ re-election campaigns are not letting such a hot ticket go to waste.

The lawmakers are using the suites to hold fundraisers at the Verizon Center on Thursday and Saturday, where part of the tournament is taking place. Although the members’ staff have not yet returned phone calls asking how the tickets were purchased, buying a suite for all three sessions would cost either $18,000 or $20,000, according to the Verizon Center ticket office. The more expensive suites fit 24 spectators while the others allow for 18.

According to the two invites collected by Party Time, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., appears to be setting up shop for all three game sessions (there are two sessions on Thursday) and is charging PACs $1,000 to attend each.

Two other congressmen will likely be rooting for their home state schools, with the University of Connecticut Huskies and University of Missouri Tigers both playing games in Washington, D.C. House Democratic Caucus chairman John Larson, D-Conn., is charging $5,000 per ticket for Saturday’s matchup while Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., is asking for $2,500 for Thursday’s games.

To obtain the suites, Larson and Carnahan’s campaigns may have had to shell out considerably less than Ruppersberger’s. Purchasing the suite for solely Thursday’s night session would cost $7,500, according to the Verizon Center ticket office.

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, is another congressman using March Madness to stuff his campaign account. Tickets are going for between $1,500 and $5,000 to watch the Thursday afternoon games with him, according to the invitation. On Saturday, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., has asked donors to join him for the games, and the suggested contribution is $2,500.

It is unclear whether the congressmen will be attending the events, as their staff have not yet returned phone calls.

Over the years the Capitol Hill townhouse owned by the Twenty First Century Group has been the venue for several fundraisers for a former House Democrat, and the lobbying group has now hired the ex-congressman as a senior adviser.

Former Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., who lost his seat in the House in January after seven terms, appears to have been hired for his knowledge of the budget and appropriations process and his close relationship to members on both sides of the aisle after serving as one of the leaders of the centrist Democrats’ Blue Dog Coalition, according to a press release last week.

Though he is not supposed to lobby for a one-year “cooling-off” period, he will have plenty of opportunities to leverage his relationships with members, including at fundraisers.

The group is putting on no less than nine moneymakers for Democrats next month, including one for Boyd’s former Appropriations Committee colleague Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. The firm puts on more fundraisers than all but one other lobby shop on the Hill, according to Party Time’s data, and the firm mostly does so for Democrats.

Boyd was in Lowey’s position about a year ago, when, just as the Appropriations Committee was considering the president’s budget, he invited donors to a fundraiser at the Twenty First Century Group. By the looks of Boyd’s campaign expenditure reports, he held at least five fundraisers at the townhouse last election cycle. The Boyd campaign paid the group nearly $6,000 for room rentals during that time, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The firm’s CEO, former Rep. Jack Fields, R-Texas, said he has worked with Boyd for over a decade and that Boyd’s experience on the Budget and Appropriations Committees would “prove invaluable” to their clients. Indeed, one of the firm’s biggest clients, the Telecommunications Development Fund, a venture capital firm, hired the group to lobby on telecom issues in the federal budget. Twenty First Century’s biggest client is a county in Boyd’s home state for which the group successfully secured infrastructure dollars.

In discussing his top value for the group’s clients, Boyd said in a press release, “I enjoyed and valued a wide network of personal friendship and professional relationships among government officials in both parties.”

One of the firm’s leading lobbyists, former Democratic staffer Jocelyn Hong, who is listed as a host on many of the invitations to fundraisers at the house, has a history of supporting Boyd. He was the second federal candidate she donated to — back in 1997, during Boyd’s first re-election campaign — and gave him $3,400 last election, more than she gave any other member of Congress, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Twenty First Century Group, whose clients include Time Warner and Verizon, would appear to be positioned for plenty of business over the next couple of years. Telecom is a growth area for lobbyists, with President Obama’s budget calling for expanded funding for rural broadband expansion and more funds for the Federal Communications Commission and cybersecurity. The president of the Telecommunications Industry Association told the National Journal the budget aligned with many of  TIA’s proposals and will urge Congress to approve Obama’s initiatives (pay-wall).

The firm’s CEO, Fields, chaired a House telecommunications subcommittee in the 1990s.

Part of a series: Fundraising Spots Around the Capitol

Unlike many other Capitol Hill townhouses — which members of Congress can use for free or rent for a relatively small sum — congressional candidates shell out $1750 to hold a fundraiser at the Twenty First Century Group house.

The outfit is one of 26 lobbying firms that use a space around the Capitol for fundraisers. There are about 126 townhouses and offices located blocks from the Capitol building, 70 percent of which are the homes or offices of lobbyists and lobbying clients. Most of these locations are among 84 historic townhouses identified in an analysis of Party Time’s database. [See the embeddable map: Where the sites are and who holds the most events]

Though the owner of the house and CEO of the group is former Texas Republican Congressman Jack Fields, the group is advertised as bipartisan and the vast majority of its fundraisers appear to be for Democrats. Invitations to at least 130 fundraisers at the location have been sent out since Party Time began collecting invitations in 2008.

Just like the Associated General Contractors property, the house’s convenient location makes it easy for lawmakers and lobbyists to attend many gatherings on busy weekday nights. Three blocks south of the Capitol, it’s a short walk from three Democratic mainstays: the Democratic National Committee, the National Democratic Club — the left aisle’s private club — and the fundraising firm Erickson & Company.

The lobbying shop counts Verizon, Time Warner and the Telecommunications Development Fund, a venture capital fund, as clients, reflecting Fields’ expertise with telecom issues: he rose to become chair of the subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance in the mid-1990s.

But the face of the group’s fundraisers appears to be lobbyist Jocelyn Hong, a former Democratic aide, whose name headlined at least 65 invitations to fundraisers at the townhouse since Party Time began record-keeping. She would not comment on the fundraisers, saying that it is company policy not to talk to the media.

The firm plays host to many Democrats that have sided with Verizon and Time Warner. Back in May, Free Press reported that phone and cable lobbyists were pressing Democrats to sign on to a letter opposing the Federal Communication Commission’s move to reclassify the Internet as a telecommunications service, which would give it more regulatory authority over Internet lines.

Among 73 Democrats signing that letter are members who have planned at least four events at the house over the years: Energy and Commerce Committee member Baron Hill, D-Ind., Joe Baca, D-Calif.,  and Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo. The letter was circulated by Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, who received a $1,000 contribution from Fields last election, the only Democrat he gave to on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is responsible for telecom issues, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Hong has given only $750 to him over the years.

Two days after the letter was dated, one of the signers, House Progressive Caucus member Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, planned an evening reception fundraiser at the house headlined by Hong, asking for contributions as high as $2,500. A week before the event, her campaign reported paying the lobby shop $1,750 for catering, records show.

Fields donated to three of the top-ranking GOP members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, responsible for telecom issues, for the midterm elections. Ranking member Joe Barton, R-Texas, got the most among committee members ($2,000) while two other top members competing for the chairmanship, Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and John Shimkus, R-Ill., also benefited, as did Greg Walden, R-Ore., a former broadcasting executive who took a leave of absence from the committee to join the House GOP leadership. Barton planned a “Private PAC Lunch!” at the townhouse last year and he, Stearns and Shimkus have said they oppose FCC regulation of the Internet.

But far from focusing on Energy Committee members, there is a broad mix of Democrats planning events at this house from different caucuses, including the Progressive Caucus, the conservative Blue Dogs, the pro-growth New Democrats, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

In fact, the members of the Appropriations Committee, who allocate federal dollars for agencies and earmarks, lead all others, invitations records show. The lobby shop’s two biggest clients have business before the powerful panel.

Twenty First Century’s biggest client this year — Manatee County in coastal Florida — hired Fields and co. to secure federal dollars for projects in a slew of appropriations bills, including infrastructure improvements to its port, lobbying reports show. The port won over $12 million for projects with the help of Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla. who does not appear to have been honored at the townhouse but did get a $500 donation from Hong this election, CRP data shows. The other client, the Telecommunication Development Fund, hired the group to lobby on the telecom portion of the federal budget, as well as rural broadband and spectrum issues, according to lobbying reports.

The three top all-time beneficiaries of Hong’s campaign contributions serve on the Appropriations panel: Reps. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., a Blue Dog booted from his seat on Nov. 2, Ed Pastor, D-Ariz. and Mike Honda, D-Calif., both in the Progressive Caucus. The three have received $2,250, $3,550 and $2,000 from the lobbyist, respectively, and all have planned fundraisers at the townhouse this year.

In all, of 14 office-seekers who Hong gave over $7,000 to for the midterms, half sit on the powerful committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Part of a series on Fundraising Spots Around the Capitol

Early yesterday evening, after the carrots and dip were cleared away, the new chief of staff to Chris Gibson, part of the large GOP freshman class going through orientation this week, left the Associated General Contractors of America townhouse, which he rented out for a fundraiser, with one of the group’s lobbyists.

Lobbyists stopped by to greet Gibson and his top aide during the hour and a half event, which asked for as much as $2,500 from political action committees to retire the former West Point professor’s campaign debt. Stallmer, who is leaving his job as a lobbyist for AGC’s New York chapter, said he chose the restored, red brick townhouse simply for its location, just two blocks south of the Capitol.

The AGC banner opened up their townhouse for meet-and-greets three times this week, said Marco Giamberardino, the lobbyist walking out of the event with Stallmer, adding to the house’s bounty: the group has put on more congressional fundraisers than all other offices and homes near the Capitol, according to an analysis of Party Time’s database. The group represents the construction industry, and its lobbying activities revolve around opposing new regulations on federal contractors, improving the business climate for the industry and pushing for more federal infrastructure investment.

AGC is just one of the 22 trade associations and two unions seeking to influence Congress that have houses or offices around the Capitol where members put on fundraisers, the analysis showed. [See the embeddable map: Where the sites are and who holds the most events]

All of the 24 groups have political action committees and holding congressional fundraisers helps them further their goals. AGC’s lobbyists often attend the fundraisers at the townhouse, AGC lobbyist Jeff Shoaf said, and its PAC has donated nearly $900,000 to campaign coffers last election, about three fourths of which went to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

“There is 15 to 29 percent unemployment in our industry; we want people to think about that,” Shoaf said, adding, “we want people to think about creating jobs in our industry.”

Though Gibson’s event was rather sober, it was an ideal warm up for the bevy of fundraisers on the Hill last night, where lobbyists were marketing themselves to incoming freshman members. One lobbyist leaving Gibson’s informal affair said he would attend 10 schmooze-fests just last night; Stallmer himself said he went to seven this week. Why? “It’s called networking,” Stallmer said.

Only a half block away from this venue is another popular location: the Capitol Hill Club, a private Republican club abutting the National Republican Committee. And just after 6 p.m. last night, it was a party, packed to the gills with lobbyists, staffers and members of Congress for a slew of fundraisers.

Giamberardino said that AGC does not favor one political party, noting that the group supports Democrats Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., (planner of many fundraisers at the house) and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., both champions of infrastructure spending. Both are among the top recipients of AGC PAC money.

Stallmer brushed away the suggestion that Gibson got particular support from contractors, even though only two House candidates received more donations (including individual donors and PACs) from general contractors than Gibson last election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Though he said he unaware which industries donated the most to his new boss, he knew how much AGC’s PAC had given.

“AGC didn’t even max out on Gibson,” Stallmer said.

Gibson received nearly $5,000 from AGC’s PAC, CRP data shows, about half of the maximum legal contribution from PACs to candidates.

The donation was given days after what FEC records show was a late June fundraiser at the AGC townhouse. The catering and $150 charge to rent the space was donated to the Gibson campaign as an in-kind contribution.

Explore the Map: Where the sites are, who holds the most events, and more.

For 15 years, Democratic lobbyist Patrick Murphy’s 120-year-old red brick townhouse a couple of blocks from the Capitol has been an attractive venue, where Murphy hosts fundraisers for up-and-coming Democrats he would like to see in office. The renewable energy and health care lobbyist hosts about 30 fundraisers per year at his home and he likes to keep the menu simple: deviled eggs, pigs in blankets and sparkling water.

The space is provided for free to candidates, and Murphy often donates the catering as an in-kind contribution. He also donates to most of the candidates he hosts, he said.

Murphy is only one of 26 lobbyists that open up their homes for fundraisers around the Capitol Hill neighborhood in D.C. that Party Time identified. There are at least 126 locations in this area alone where fundraisers have been held in the past three years, 70 percent of which are the homes or offices of lobbyists and lobbying clients, according to an analysis of the data collected by Party Time, a Sunlight Foundation project that collects invitations to Congressional fundraisers. [See embeddable map]

Quite a few of the mapped locales – 84 – are age-old townhouses on tree-lined streets just a stone’s throw from the Capitol building. Some two dozen are the homes of members of Congress. Among them, Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., appear to hold events the most frequently, as they sent 18 and 17 invitations to fundraisers, respectively, in the past three years. Congressmen Steve Kagen, D-Wisc., and Ken Calvert, R-Calif., have each planned about a dozen such events over the years.

Originally from Montana, Murphy was a Democratic National Committee official for eight years, including a stint as the vice chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, and is a former Nevada state legislator. Consequently, he has close ties to Western Democrats.

“It’s kind of like a family tree; it’s just kind of grown,” Murphy said. Speaking about who he decides to host, he said, “I’d like to say there’s a strategy behind it but there’s really not.”

For some of these events – if he is hosting a startup candidate for instance – he said he is more likely to foot the bill for catering. Other times, campaigns pay.

This analysis used Party Time data and included properties which the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue classifies as on Capitol Hill. Properties were also included if they were within a close range of the Capitol building. The analysis does not include restaurants, the private clubs affiliated with the two political parties or the offices of the parties, where many fundraisers are held. The data collected is not a comprehensive list of fundraisers that are held and the information is provided to us through anonymous donors, so there may be many more events held besides the ones in our database.

The fundraising circuit

The lobbying outfit Twenty First Century Group and trade association Associated General Contractors both have held the most fundraisers at their townhouses (over 130 each), the analysis shows.

Not far behind are the townhouses of UPS, lobbyist Tim Rupli, and the lobby shop Williams & Jensen.

What makes these townhouses special, lobbyists said, is their proximity to the Capitol. Jeffrey Shoaf, a lobbyist with Associated General Contractors, which has a townhouse just two blocks south of the Capitol complex, said, “It’s just location. We picked it because of location so that we could house our legislative staff there, so we can host our members and our staff in town that are making Hill visits.”

On weeknights when Congress is in session, being close to the Capitol allows members to come late or leave early for evening votes at the Capitol, and lets donors quickly move on to another fundraiser after getting some face time with a member of Congress.

“There’s not too many lavish ones,” Patrick Murphy said of the townhouse events. The fundraisers are more in-and-out affairs where donors just want to make sure a lawmaker sees their face. “We find people are so rushed that if anyone is getting more than a potato chip, they’re thrilled,” Murphy added.

Lobbyists invite their clients to the fundraisers, hoping to woo a large enough crowd and  bring in campaign cash but attendance is not a given. “Most clients aren’t here in Washington. If they come they’re supporting the candidate,” Murphy said. For instance, the PACs of two of Murphy’s six clients — the National Pawnbrokers Association and the Sunpower Corporation — donated to the same candidates as Murphy.

A lobbyist with ties to Democrats

Just around the corner from Patrick Murphy is another lobbyist’s townhouse where Democrats often put on fundraisers. Like Murphy, John Weinfurter’s events seem to come about because of a personal connection with the candidates, particularly those from Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

For Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., a longtime friend of Weinfurter’s, and many other lawmakers, Weinfurter picks up the tab for drinks. The expense is classified as an in-kind contribution and comes from his firm’s political action committee, KCSW Inc.

For an evening fundraiser at Weinfurter’s home in April, where Baldwin asked for as much as $5,000 from political action committees (PACs), KSCW paid about $150 for drinks, FEC records show. In September, KCSW would send another $500 to her campaign. For Baldwin, the April event was a bargain compared to the nearly $4,000 her campaign paid for her birthday bash in February at Washington’s Restaurant Muramoto.

Weinfurter did not reply to phone calls.

Republican-friendly townhouse

In the heat of the election season, Republican and Tea Party-powered candidates could rely on the townhouse office of lobbyist Rick Murphy to hold their fundraisers. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Joe Miller, a Tea Party favorite from Alaska, were among five candidates who used the home of the tobacco, healthcare and pharmaceutical lobbyist in the final days of September and start of October, invitation records show.

In that time span, Murphy held at least six events at his E Street house, two of them planned for senator-elect Ayotte, who has both establishment and Tea Party credentials, invitations show. Murphy has contributed more to Ayotte ($4,800) than to any other office-seeker this election. The Joe Miller fundraiser was headlined by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who Murphy used to work for as a senior aide.

The lobbyist did not reply to phone calls.

The other candidates who held fundraisers at the Murphy townhouse this fall include Indiana’s Senator-elect Dan Coats, Len Britton, who unsuccessfully ran against Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has received $2,500 from Murphy this election cycle.

Anupama Narayanswamy and Aaron Bycoffe contributed to this report.

With Boise State, an Idaho school which some observers say could win college football’s national championship this year, coming to the D.C. area to play its season opener on national television Monday night, Sen. Mike Crapo’s, R-Idaho, campaign team saw a chance to add to his war chest.

“It’s not far from the general election, and we’re fundraising. Period. So, it’s an opportunity that arose and people are excited about it,” said Jake Ball, the senior senator’s campaign manager.

The senior senator, running in November for a third term, will be rubbing elbows with high-rollers in a luxury suite — purchased directly from the stadium, the campaign said — at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, home of the Washington Redskins. According to the invitation, donors are asked to contribute the maximum campaign contribution for a ticket: $5,000-per-PAC and $2,400-per-person, and “payment is required to secure tickets.”

The Broncos are playing the Virginia Tech Hokies, a perennial powerhouse, in the so-called “Battle at the Capital.”

Thousands of Idahoans – including this cash-strapped family — will be traveling across the country to watch the Broncos, a smaller and newer program than the large schools it competes against.

“It’s a big deal because a team from Idaho would not normally travel to the East Coast to play a football game,” Ball said.

Crapo’s seat is safe, according to observers, but Ball said the campaign is going full steam ahead nonetheless.

At about $4 million, Crapo has already raised nearly double what he did for his 2004 campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Suites for the game are being sold for between $5,000 to $16,000, depending on the location and size of the suite, according to a FedEx Field ticket agent. Twenty-person boxes are on the low end, while 40-person boxes are pricier.

It’s no surprise that Martha’s Vineyard, secluded and home to mostly liberals, where the Clintons liked to visit and where President Obama and his family will vacation starting Thursday, is also a place where top Congressional Democrats would choose to hold fundraisers.

A day after the commander-in-chief arrives for a stay on a private farm, Oakland Congresswoman and Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif., will kick off a weekend fundraiser, and if last year’s jaunt is any clue, the festivities could run the campaign more than $18,000, according to analysis of expenditure reports.

Once again, Lee has invited Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., Obama’s scheduled golf buddy last summer, to be a special guest at the fundraiser, and he’ll be attending, his campaign said. This time around, G. K. Butterfield, D-N.C., another member of the CBC, also got top billing on the invitation.

Clyburn, whose leadership PAC has given $5,000 to Lee this cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, has been a draw to at least 19 Democratic fundraisers this year. He has also given more than $1.2 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this year, according to this report in Hotline OnCall.

Many have weighed in on why Democrats flock to Martha’s Vineyard. It’s tolerant and unpretentious, Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree Jr. told the New York Times. The town of Oak Bluffs, where Rep. Lee and her entourage spent some time last summer, according to expenditure reports, is an historic black neighborhood, where Spike Lee and Henry Louis Gates have homes.

It’s also a secluded island, and an expensive one at that, where celebrities can let down their guard down and not worry about paparazzi, Skip Finley, a radio broadcasting executive who calls Oak Bluffs home, told the Times. He donated $450 to Rep. Lee during her weekend event last summer, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He has also given a total of $3,000 to Clyburn over the years.

Yet the Lee campaign has invited guests to stay in Edgartown, more upscale than Oak Bluffs, on the water at the Harbor View Hotel & Resort, which cost the campaign about $4,400 last year, according to expenditure records.

A happy hour at Harbor View and a dinner at Edgartown’s l’etoile Restaurant, with the tab coming to about $6,400, according to CRP, were both on last summer’s agenda. An afternoon sail on a catamaran from Edgartown Harbor cost the campaign $2,300.

Lee also spent $750 for a fundraiser at Cousen Rose Gallery, a cultural salon in Oak Bluffs, where she also had time to do a book signing for Renegade for Peace and Justice: Congresswoman Barbara Lee Speaks for Me, reported the Vineyard Gazette (paywalled).

Just being ferried around the island cost the campaign about $850 (Adam Cab). Then there was about $250 of “supplies” brought from a booze and convenience store (Jim’s Package Store), and a $300 fee to a piano player (Peter MacLean), according to expenditure records from CRP.

Just like last year, for $3,000, PACs could send a couple to the event. The ask for individuals is $2,400.

It’s unclear who attended in 2009, but among the eight PACs that gave exactly $3,000 between June and August is the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department. By sector, labor contributes the most to the Oakland Rep., followed by lawyers and lobbyists.

Student lender Sallie Mae and top campaign contributors the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Boeing, Pfizer, Comcast were also among the batch of PACs giving at that time, according to CRP.

To view all of the parties attended by Clyburn and other top brass, Party Time recently unveiled an  “Events by congressional leadership” page, where all of the events attended by Clyburn and other members of the top brass are listed, as well as this page where you can see events where commitee leaders appear.  You can also sign up to receive email alerts for events added to each of these pages.

After declaring he would run for the late Sen. Robert Byrd’s seat two weeks ago, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III is fundraising tonight at the grand Rock Creek Park chateau of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., according to this invitation.

Manchin has raised cash at the mansion in the past. In spring 2008, he raised $26,000 from, among others, executives of coal and power companies, Verizon, and a top Democratic lobbyist, according to this campaign finance statement filed by the Manchin campaign.

Unlike federal law, West Virginia campaign finance law requires campaigns to report donations brought in from a specific fundraiser. Total receipts and expenditures from the event must be included, as well as the name of each donor and the amount given.

At the 2008 event, $5,000 came from the head honchos of American Electric Power and its subsidiary in West Virginia. The company is one of the country’s largest power providers, and its PAC has doled out more than $1 million to federal candidates this cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Foundation Coal’s executives and PAC gave $4,500; the company merged with Alpha Natural Resources to become the country’s third largest coal producer last year. Verizon’s general counsel, Randal Milch, and the president of Verizon West Virginia, Brian Fulton, contributed  a total of $1,500. Verizon has given more than $1.3 million to federal candidates this election cycle.

Democratic healthcare lobbyist Frederick Graefe, one of The Hill’s top “hired guns” of 2009 and a frequent party host — often at his law office — contributed $500 at the party.

The event is reportedly one of “five or six” shindigs Manchin is having in and near his home state as the election nears. The suggested contribition for this one is $5,000 for hosts, $2,500 for sponsors annd $1,000 for PACs and individuals.

Manchin announced his candidacy after appointing an ally, Carte Goodwin, who said he would not seek re-election, to be interim senator, and signing a bill allowing a special Senate primary on Aug. 28 and election this fall.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., the only Republican in the state’s Congressional delegation, decided she wouldn’t run. Fifteen people have filed as candidates, including 95-year-old ex-Congressman Ken Hechler.

Manchin has around $140,000 leftover from his 2008 gubernatorial campaign, but it’s illegal to use those funds for a U.S. Senate run, the Charleston Gazette reported.

At least six members of Congress, all Democrats, plan to relive the 70s and also raise some serious 2010 campaign cash at the Carole King and James Taylor Troubadour Reunion Tour at the Verizon Center in Washington tonight.

The Troubadour Reunion Tour is billed as the 40th anniversary of King and Taylor’s first performance together in 1970 at the folk-music-mecca, the Troubadour nightclub, in West Hollywood, Calif.

Lawmakers who are planning fundraisers at this event include:

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., who is asking guests to pay $1,000 for individuals and $1,500 for political action committees.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who is also hosting a reception at the Verizon Center an hour before the concert. Tickets are $2,500 per political action committee and $2,400 per individual.

Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., is advertising the “best seats in the house” for the concert. His tickets are $2,500 per ticket for seats to the right of the stage “designed to recreate the intimacy of the vintage Troubadour club” and offers the chance to attend a private pre-concert sound check. Guests can also pay $1,000 for premium seats, which are close row seats right by the stage.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., lists her position as the Chair of the Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee of the House Armed Serves Committee, and a member of the Homeland Security and Joint Economic Committees. Sanchez’ tickets to the event are $1,000 for individuals and $2,500 for political action committees.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., writes on his invite to the concert: “I hope you will be able to join me for a special concert event featuring Carol [sic] King and James Taylor tomorrow” and is asking for contributions of $2,500.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., appears to have used the same outreach service as Rep. Engel because her invite looked the same as his, complete with the identical typo of Carole King’s name. DeGette is also asking for contributions of $2,500. Her invite lists an earlier date of the concert of June 8th, but it was changed to tonight.

Tonight’s concert, which will include original support band from The Troubadour, is estimated to be the best selling ticket event in the world, based on sales from the secondary ticket exchange, the TicketNetwork Exchange.

Featured songs might include Smiling Face, Up on the Roof, and maybe one the lawmakers will like:  Where You Lead.