With Congress back in session, candidates facing a tough election battle in November are going for a final fundraising blitz in the nation’s capital, with at least 48 DC fundraisers scheduled over the next three weeks alone.  (See spreadsheet below for a full list.)

We will update this spreadsheet weekly in the run up to the election as a tool to track fundraising parties for these races. To identify close races we’ve used analysis by the Cook Political Report.

Some highlights of this week’s list include:

• Tomorrow Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is scheduled to fundraise at this breakfast at the Hyatt Regency. Listed as hosts are the entire Democratic Senate “classes” of 2006 and 2008. His opponent, Sharron Angle, will be in town the next day for a reception at the offices of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) headlined by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and NRSC Chairman John Cornyn, R-Texas. A new poll shows the two running neck and neck in their race.
• Prominent Democratic lobbyists Tony and Heather Podesta are scheduled to host this breakfast tomorrow for Rep. Paul Kanjorski. The 13-term incumbent has long been a target for the GOP. This year his race against Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta is considered a toss up.
• There are three scheduled fundraisers this month for Rep. Charles Kong Djou, R-Hawaii, who is running a closely watched race against Democratic challenger Colleen Hanabusa. Djou won the formerly solid blue seat last May in a special election to replace former Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who resigned to run for governor. Democrats regard it as one of the few prospects for a Democratic pickup this November. There is this $1,000-per-PAC, $250-per-individual lunch at the Associated General Contractors townhouse on Capitol Hill this coming Thursday. Then, on Sept. 22, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., is scheduled to appear at a lunch at the offices of the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), and on Sep. 23, this breakfast, also at NRCC headquarters. features Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga.

Click here to download a spreadsheet of upcoming fundraisers for candidates in competitive races.

A new report out from Public Citizen uses the Party Time database to show that lobbyists and lobbying firms representing top TARP recipients and financial banking associations scheduled at least 70 parties since the last election day through the end of June. They also doled out some $6 million in campaign contributions over the same time period.

Some of the juiciest findings include:

• Lobbyists who represent the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted 35 of the scheduled fundraisers, more than any other group. Lobbyists who represent the American Bankers Association hosted 21 scheduled fundraisers. Lobbyists who represent Citigroup, a company that is about one-third owned by U.S. taxpayers, were the third most frequent hosts, with 15 scheduled fundraisers.
• Forty-eight current members of Congress, plus the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, were beneficiaries of the scheduled fundraisers. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Rep. Paul Ryan, (R-Wis.) were the beneficiaries of the most scheduled fundraisers, with four each. The House Ways & Means Committee had 10 beneficiaries, the most members in the study for any committee. The Senate banking committee had the most members honored in that chamber, with seven.
• Collectively, lobbyists for the Podesta Group were scheduled to host at least 14 fundraisers, more than those for any other lobbying firm, and made $82,150 in federal contributions in the time period covered in this study. Lobbyist Anthony Podesta scheduled at least 10 fundraisers at his house, according to three invitations (here, here, and here) that referenced events slated to take place between March 25, 2009, and June 17, 2009. Podesta has lobbied Congress on financial services provisions on behalf of a division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is canceling a fundraiser this Wednesday after a flap when it became public that the lobbyist host, Heather Podesta, had advertised the work of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as the “first course” at the event. (Heather and her husband, Tony, are prolific fundraisers.)

Podesta reportedly wrote in an e-mail note attached to the formal invitation that donors who gave between $1,000 and $2,500 could order up “the Select Committee on Intelligence for the first course.” (We have mention of the event in our database, but not the actual email reported in the press.)

Feinstein’s spokesperson explained the cancellation this way:

“It was obvious that this would be subject to misinterpretation by some, and it was canceled to avoid any misinterpretation,” said Gil Duran, a spokesman for the senator. “No contributions were received, so there is nothing to return.”

Funny what a little sunlight will do. Of course it’s extremely common for fundraising invitations to include mention of lawmakers’ committee assignments.

Check out this event today for Rep. Pete King (R-NY), pointing out that he’s ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee and also serves on the House Financial Services Committee.

And this one, also for an event today, for Sen. Dan Boren (D-OK) mentions that he’s a member of the Blue Dog Coalition–and the House Committee on Natural Resources & Select Intelligence.

The fact is, if every politician who flagged his or her committee assignments were to cancel their fundraisers–well, there wouldn’t be many fundraisers.

Senate veteran Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wasn’t supposed to be in a tight race. He’s an old pro who has raised far more money than his opponent, Democrat Bruce Lunsford. But now polls are tightening a bit, and even the conservative National Review says he “is in a much closer race than Republicans would like to admit.” (“Pushing 60,” National Review, Nov. 3, 2008, subscription required.)

As befitting a fundraising pro–McConnell served as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee in the late 1990s–our Party Time database shows that the senator spends a lot of his time partying for others. We’ve got 21 invitations on file where he has been mentioned as a draw to get donors to attend an event for GOP senators and candidates. Last month alone, he got a half dozen mentions on fundraising invitations. These included parties for Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) , Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) , Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), would-be senator Bob Schaffer from Colorado and Rep. Steve Pearce, who is running for Senate in Arizona. (It should be noted that a number of other senators are also mentioned on these invitations.)

McConnell was also mentioned on an unusual invitation–a September party honoring not lawmakers themselves, but rather their chiefs of staff.  While the staffers may have gotten the kudos, however, the checks went to their bosses via a special joint fundraising committee, the “Special Teams 2008 Committee, established by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a long list of state GOP committees-Alaska, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Oregon.

We also have two parties on file that benefit McConnell’s own campaign committee. One party, scheduled in April, was hosted by the U.S. Chamber PAC.  The other was a March party at the lobbying firm Patton Boggs hosted by partners  Ben Ginsberg, Ed Newberry , Darryl Nirenberg, and Kevin O’Neill.

What about McConnell’s opponent, Bruce Lunsford? We have only one invitation for him on file, a July party at the home of Heather and Tony Podesta, the powerful Democratic lobbyist couple. (See this blog post from the Wall Street Journal’s Brody Mullins on Heather’s novel protest of Sen. Barack Obama’s reign-in-the-lobbyists stance. )

As always, we must caution that this doesn’t mean that Lunsford didn’t have more fundraising parties; he must have. And McConnell certainly had more, too. Here at Party Time, we tell you what we know based on what our anonymous sources have sent us. We’d love more submissions, because the more we know-the more you know.