Here's today's run-down of the Congressional races:

Dems Throw Over $12 Million Into House Races
The DCCC launched a massive financial assault on the Republicans yesterday, with over $12.6 million in spending for over 50 races in the latest set of FEC filings. The single biggest expenditure was $643,000 against Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV). Six-figure amounts were spent on an astonishing 40 House races. By contrast, the NRCC only spent $1.07 million in the latest filings.

Poll: Murtha Now In Tight Race
A new Susquehanna poll shows that Jack Murtha could be in trouble in his usually-safe seat in the wake of his public comments about his constituents being racist rednecks. The numbers: Murtha 46%, retired Army Lt. Col. Bill Russell (R) 41%, with a ±4.9% margin of error.

Read more »

Bachmann Challenger's Fundraising Skyrockets
The campaign of Elwyn Tinklenberg, the Democratic challenger against Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), tells Election Central that they've raised $650,000 online since her now-infamous McCarthyite appearance on Hardball. This is an astonishing number for a House race by any measure, and even more special in light of the fact that this is nearly twice his cash-on-hand at the end of September.

McConnell: I Would Still Back Iraq War, "Regardless Of The Initial Justification"
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) reaffirmed that he would have voted to authorize the Iraq War, even knowing now that there were no weapons of mass destruction. "Regardless of the initial justification, I don't think the Middle East or the world would be better off if he was there," McConnell told the Courier-Journal editorial board. "I think that is a substantial improvement."

Read more »

Here's a rundown of the latest developments on the down-ticket races: The Dem party committees are going on offense, hitting the air with a new round of attack ads against the Republican candidates.

Dem Ad Against Coleman: Parents Blame Him For Son's Death In Iraq
The DSCC has this very emotional and hard-hitting new ad up against Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), featurng Nancy and Claremont Anderson, the parents of a Minnesota soldier who was killed in Iraq:

"I don't blame the Army for our son's death," Nancy says. "I just blame the bad policies on President Bush, Norm Coleman, who voted for this."

Dem Ad: Republican House Candidate Is Wacky Cartoon Character
Check out this goofy attack ad from the DCCC in one fo the open GOP-held House seats in New Jersey. The ad depicts GOP nominee Leonard Lane, a state Senator, as a dancing cartoon character:

"Watch Leonard Lance do the old Trenton dance," the announcer says mockingly.

Read more »

In a further sign of the Republicans' recruiting problems this cycle, the prospective GOP candidate seen as best able to hold the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL) has pulled her name from consideration. Christine Radogno (R), a moderate who ran a credible campaign for Illinois state treasurer last year, has instead decided to seek re-election for her state Senate seat.

The DCCC had more success in its recruitment efforts in the district — their first choice, Illinois Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson (D), announced yesterday her decision to run for the seat.

House Democrats have landed a major recruiting prize in the open seat race to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL): Illinois state Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson (D).

National and local Democrats believe that Halvorson, whose base lies in the heart of the suburban Illinois district, will give the party its best shot to pick up the moderate district that Bush carried by a 53%-46% margin over John Kerry in 2004. Republicans will be hard-pressed to match Halvorson's profile, but they believe that state Sen. Christine Radogno (R), a moderate who lost a race for state Treasurer last year, is their strongest option to retain the district.

It looks like Congressman Jerry Weller (R-IL) — the son-in-law of a former Central American dictator — is going out in style.

After Weller's retirement announcement today, CBS Chicago political editor Mike Flannery and a camera crew followed Weller and asked him about a suspicious land deal in Nicaragua that some believe may have led to Weller's sudden retirement. Weller's aides, who surrounded him as a sort of security squad, got messy:

"There's a large man, who begins shoving reporters around, including yours truly. He shoves me one way, then he goes after another reporter with CLTV ... There's an opening in the doorway, and I begin moving through that doorway, and he shoves me down the stairs; he shoves me into a railing on the staircase and also into a woman in on the staircase who was traveling with Weller," Flannery said.

Weller then began yelling at the reporters on camera, threatening to call the police against them for having pushed the woman.

Flannery says he plans to press charges against the Congressman's staffer.

Congressman Jerry Weller (R-IL) will announce today that he is not seeking re-election, setting up a potentially close race for his swing seat — President Bush carried the district with 53% in 2004, and Weller won re-election with only 55% in 2006, despite not being targeted.

"I need to give my family the time needed to be a full-time father and husband," Weller will say, according to prepared remarks.

And on the subject of his family: Weller is married to Zury Ríos Montt, a member of the Guatemalan Congress from the Guatemalan Republican Front — a party founded by her father, Efraín Ríos Montt. The elder Ríos Montt is a former right-wing dictator who took power in a March 1982 military coup, combatted leftist guerrillas by employing brutal tactics against indigenous peoples — killing tens of thousands — and was himself forced from power in August 1983.

Another Congressional Republican is headed for the door. Congressman Jerry Weller (R-IL) will reportedly announce tomorrow that he is not seeking re-election.

President Bush carried his district with 53% in 2004, and Weller was re-elected with 55% in 2006. With those non-landslide margins in a district that simply was not targeted, we might just see the Democrats trying for a pick-up in a possible wave election next year.

Weller is perhaps best known for a series of land deals in Nicaragua and for his marriage to Guatemalan Congresswoman Zury Ríos Montt, daughter of former right-wing dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.