FEC filings released today show that Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda kept pace with GOP incumbent Jim Ryun in fundraising for the third quarter. Election Central reported last week that Kansas's 2nd district may be a surprisingly competitive race due to Boyda's strong grassroots campaigning and a difficult environment for the GOP. Despite running in a heavily GOP state and district and rejecting help from her national party, Boyda managed to raise raised $148 k last quarter, just shy of Ryun's $157 k. Of course, all of this came before Vice President Cheney's visit to the district last week that raised $200k for the Ryun campaign.