While Congress is out of session GOP Senators from Idaho, Mike Crapo and Jim Risch are extending a helping hand to Rep. Mike Simpson and freshman Rep. Raul Labrador, their counterparts in the House. They sent a letter to donors asking them to sponsor the “Idaho Congressional Gala,” with the proceeds going towards a joint fundraising committee for Simpson and Labrador. The April 29 event will be held at a hotel in Idaho and suggested contributions range from $500 to$2,500.

Spring is here again and it’s time for Rep. Gary Ackerman’s, D-NY, annual “Real Deli Event.” The congressman has planned this celebration of New York deli foods in April or May every year since at least 2008. This year’s event on May 3 promises to be the “WHOLE SCHMEER”, with a spread of food ranging from matzoh ball soup to hard salami. If you want to be the “Maven” of the event, your PAC will have to contribute  $5,000, while a PAC contribution of $2,500 will make you a respectable “Mensch.”

An invitation to another May 3 event is full of lawmakers with ties to the House Agriculture Committee or House Committee on Natural Resources or  both. The event is in honor of Rep. Gregorio Sablan, D-Northern Mariana Islands, at the Capitol Hill townhouse of the lobby shop Patton Boggs. Invitees to the event include Reps. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., the former chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., the ranking member of the Committee on Agriculture.

Another upcoming event that might be attractive to the agriculture industry is the celebration of the 17th anniversary of the special election victory of Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla.

Last week Party Time reported on the lobbying efforts of AT&T in their campaign to gain approval for their proposed merger with T-Mobile. One of the events mentioned is the upcoming May 4 dinner in support of Rep. Dave Camp, R-Calif., the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The event will be co-hosted by, among others, AT&T’s PAC and lobbyist Gregg Hartley of Cassidy and Associates, who lobbies for both AT&T and T-Mobile.

On the weekend of May 6, Churchill Downs will once again be host to the Kentucky Derby and, this time, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., will also be using it as a fundraiser for his leadership PAC. A contribution of $5,000 will get a pair of donors tickets to the clubhouse level, a dinner with the Senator in downtown Louisville, and two tickets to the winner’s party where donors will be joined by the governor of Kentucky and “other dignified guests.”

Lobbying firm Glover Park Group will be the site of two upcoming fundraisers for Democrats. On May 4, North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield is putting on a “Eastern NC Barbecue Birthday Bash.” A week later the office is honoring Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. at a breakfast in support of his leadership PAC. Hosts for the fundraiser include former Kerry aides Gregg Rothschild of the Glover Park Group, Brian Rice of Verizon and Barry LaSala of Elmendorf Strategies. They also include Bob Crowe of Nelson, Mullins, et al, who co-chairs Kerry’s leadership PAC, according to his bio. Nelson Mullins’ PAC contributed $7,500 to the leadership PAC in the 2009-2010 election cycle. Also hosting is Manny Ortiz of Quinn Gillespie and Associates.

Idaho state representative Raul Labrador, running against the better funded Vaughn Ward, handily beat Ward in yesterday’s Republican primary in the state’s First Congressional District.

Labrador got 48 percent of the votes to Ward’s 39 percent. Ward had the support of Sarah Palin and the National Republican Campaign Committee while Labrador was backed by Tea Party Boise.

Ward’s campaign was plagued by miscues, including accusations that he plagiarized other campaigns’ position statements on his Web site and Barack Obama’s 2004 Democratic National Convention speech. He had to answer questions about why he paid some of his property taxes late and failed to timely disclose his wife’s assets on his U.S. House Financial Disclosure Report. He also called the unincorporated U.S. territory of Puerto Rico a country.

Labrador, who only had about $36,000 left in the bank as of May 5, now goes on to face incumbent Democrat Walt Minnick, who had about $936,000 on hand. We blogged about this race yesterday.

The district is conservative, voting for John McCain in 2008, but as a member of Congress, Minnick has voted with the Democrats only 73 percent of the time, including a nay to the Health Care Affordability and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Republicans vying for a chance to unseat freshman Democrat Walt Minnick in Idaho’s 1st Congressional District are squaring off in a primary today.

The Cook Political Report calls the November race a toss up though the district leans Republican,  according to Cook’s Partisan Voting Index (PVI). Democrat Walt Minnick, who runs unopposed in his party’s primary today, took the seat in 2008 and has the lead in fundraising with more than $1.5 million raised.

The two top Republican hopefuls are Idaho state representative Raul Labrador and Vaughn L. Ward, a former CIA operative, Marine and official in the 2008 John McCain campaign.

Ward was considered the favorite, with an early May poll giving him an 18 point lead over Labrador.  But last week, a poll had Ward leading 31 percent to 28 percent. A large block of voters — 37 percent — was undecided in that poll.

Ward has had the fundraising advantage, raising about $563,000 so far to Labrador’s nearly $104,000. Ward has almost $126,000 on hand while Labrador only has about $36,000. Meanwhile, Minnick has about $936,000 left in the bank.

Party Time records show that Minnick, has held three fundraisers this year. Most recently, political action committees could host a May 13th breakfast at Hotel George for $5,000 or sponsor it for $2,500. Individuals could play host for $2,400 and PACs and individuals could be guests for $1,000.

On March 23, American Commercial Lines, Inc. PAC and MetLife PAC hosted a breakfast for Minnick, also at Hotel George, where a PAC could host the breakfast for $2,500, while individuals and PACs could be guests for $1,000. The invitation highlights that Minnick is a Financial Services and Agriculture committee member. ACLI PAC is in the sea transport industry and has mostly donated to Democrats in the 2010 cycle. MetLife PAC is in the insurance industry and has spent about $718,000 on the 2010 election.