Newt in the Sunshine State – After coming off his victory in the South Carolina Primary win, the former speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is scheduled to attend the 2012 Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday. Gingrich is listed on the invitation as the honored guest and speaker at the fundraiser that benefits the Orange County Republican Executive Committee.

For more on upcoming presidential fundraisers, check out our fundraiser tracker.

Washington Capitals Game – Capitals and Bruins fans, Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., will be at the game tomorrow at the Verizon Center.

Happy Birthday! – Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., is scheduled to be in San Diego on Thursday for a birthday celebration dinner. To wish Bilbray happy birthday in person, tickets start at $2,500 per table and $250 per person.

Breakfast of Champions – A fundraising breakfast in honor of Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is scheduled for Tuesday. The suggested contributions start at $2,000 for PACs and $500 for individuals.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will be having a round table breakfast scheduled for Wednesday.

Capitol Hill will return to its hustle and bustle this week as members of Congress return from the holidays. Many will return to their schedule of attending meetings and hearings, but they will also be attending fundraisers in what promises to be a busy election year.

South Carolina or Bust! –Presidential hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry are scheduled to attend fundraisers benefiting local Republican parties South Carolina. On Tuesday, the Florence County Republican Party will be hosting Coffee with Gingrich and another fundraiser featuring Perry later in the day.

The candidates will be spending more time in South Carolina as the first primary of the South approaches on Jan. 21.

Showdown in Ohio – Redistricting will eliminate two seats in Ohio and in one of the cases, two separate districts now served by Democrats, Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich will be merged into one. Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in the House prepares for her battle against Kucinich with her first fundraiser of the year. She is scheduled to have a breakfast event on Wednesday.

Lunch with Sen. Reid – Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is scheduled to attend a luncheon for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in St. Louis.

As the Republican presidential contest heats up, the focus is on the close finish last week’s Iowa caucuses and Tuesday’s all-important New Hampshire primary. But the candidates have been lavishing plenty of attention elsewhere.

From fundraisers at donors’ residences and corporate offices to fancy receptions, they’re making time to show in states that historically have produced the most campaign donations, including California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas.

Click here for a list of fundraisers we’ve collected from these states.

The “ATM states” as pols sometimes dub their favorite cash cows, are proud of their status as candidate magnets.

“California is home to the largest Republican donor base upon the planet, and any well-organized candidate who’s going to work to raise money must include California,” Ron Nehring, former chairman of the state GOP told the Los Angeles Times.

One leading candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, has attended multiple fundraisers in California including one at the home of Sun Microsystems founder Scott McNealy. On Sept. 26, literary agent and now Romney adviser and finance chair, Jillian Manus Salzman hosted a lunch fundraiser for Romney at her residence.

Despite spending a lot of time prepping for the New Hampshire primary, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman hosted a luncheon at a restaurant in North Hollywood and a VIP Reception and luncheon in Los Angeles.

Florida and New York are also popular stops on the political money trail. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is scheduled to be the guest speaker at The Orange County Republican Executive Committee 2012 Lincoln Day Dinner on Jan. 28.

Party Time records show Romney holding a breakfast reception and an evening reception in New York City, a lunch reception in Orlando, Fla., and an evening event Tampa, Fla., starting last summer.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry held his Sunshine State Kickoff during the month of September, holding events in Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Palm Beach.

Candidates also have been active in South Carolina, which hosts the South’s first primary on Jan. 21.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., was the guest speaker at several events and fundraisers in Lake Wylie, Greenville and Berkeley. On Sept. 15, he was the guest speaker at the South Carolina Republican Party fundraiser. He also attended an Oct. 26 fundraiser that benefited the Spartanburg Republican Party.

A few days after announcing his presidential candidacy, Perry, was the special guest at the “First in the South” luncheon hosted by the South Carolina Republican Party.

Please help Sunlight build our presidential fundraising database! Submit any invitations, fundraising fliers or event information anonymously here or via email at partytime@sunlightfoundation.com

Yesterday presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, R-GA., was scheduled to headline a breakfast fundraising event in Urbandale, Iowa for Jeff Mullen, who is running for the state Senate. Cost was $35 for an individual and $50 for a couple.

Mullen told the Iowa Republican “I know Iowans are being bombarded with Presidential Candidates this close to the Iowa Caucus but we’ve got to keep in mind that our Iowa Senate is at a pivotal position.”

Earlier this week Gingrich saw a surge in the polls, after suffering campaign setbacks last summer. News also broke this week, however, that Gingrich earned at least $1.6 million consulting for mortgage company Freddie Mac, which is putting him under new scrutiny. On Wednesday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held hearings criticizing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for lavish bonuses to executives.

Gov. Harley Barbour, R-Miss., and presidential candidate Herman Cain will be joining forces at the 2011 Statesman of the Year Dinner in Sarasota, Fla.  Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman, is being honored at this event to benefit the Republican Party of Sarasota County. In October, Barbour told The Hill that his wife would vote for Cain if the election were on that day.

Most of the major GOP presidential candidates are scheduled to speak at an annual fundraiser honoring Ronald Reagan for the Iowa Republican Party Friday night, at an event where a ten-person VIP table costs $1,500.

Nine presidential candidates were invited but frontrunners Mitt Romney and Herman Cain will not be there . Both will be attending Washington, D.C. summit put on by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative nonprofit backed by the billionaire Koch brothers. Romney will be delivering an address on fiscal policy. But candidates Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., Ron Paul, R-Texas, Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum will be speaking at the Iowa event. Here’s a speaking schedule from the Des Moines Register.

That high price tag will get donors ten seats, along with two tickets to the host reception which kicks off the event. The prices go down from there: a non-VIP table of ten is $1,000, a “premium reserve” seat is $150, and general seating is $75. The invitation was posted on the Iowa Republican Party’s website.

The Republican presidential candidates are preparing to face off at the Iowa Caucus on Jan. 3.

CSPAN-2 will be providing live coverage at the event.

The September congressional fundraising fury continues, with nearly 50 parties scheduled today, the great majority of them in Washington, D.C. To see the full list of today’s parties, check out this link. Here’s a spotlight on a few:

• President Barack Obama is headlining an event tonight to raise cash for congressional Democrats at New York’s Roosevelt hotel.
• Newt Gingrich is slated to appear at a breakfast for Voice for Freedom, the leadership PAC for Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga.
• Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., raises cash at breakfast hosted by trio of tax lobbyists.
• Four events for candidates in races rated as “toss up” by Cook Political Report: a luncheon for GOP candidate Robert Hurt, running in Virginia’s fifth district; a breakfast for Republican Charles Kong Djou, who is defending his seat in Hawaii; another breakfast for Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., hosted by lobbyists Kyle Simpson and Ronnie Shows; and a reception for Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga. For a spreadsheet of upcoming parties for candidates in tough races, click here.