With Boise State, an Idaho school which, some observers say could win college football's national championship this year, coming to the D.C. area to play its season opener on national television Monday night, Sen. Mike Crapo's, R-Idaho, campaign team saw a chance to add to his war chest.

“It's not far from the general election, and we're fundraising. Period. So, it's an opportunity that arose and people are excited about it,” said Jake Ball, the senior senator's campaign manager.

The senior senator, running in November for a third term, will be rubbing elbows with high-rollers in a luxury suite -- purchased directly from the stadium, the campaign said -- at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, home of the Washington Redskins. According to the invitation, donors are asked to contribute the maximum campaign contribution for a ticket: $5,000-per-PAC and $2,400-per-person, and "payment is required to secure tickets."

The Broncos are playing the Virginia Tech Hokies, a perennial powerhouse, in the so-called “Battle at the Capital.”

Thousands of Idahoans -- including this cash-strapped family -- will be traveling across the country to watch the Broncos, a smaller and newer program than the large schools it competes against.

“It''s a big deal because a team from Idaho would not normally travel to the East Coast to play a football game,” Ball said.

Crapo's seat is safe, according to observers, but Ball said the campaign is going full steam ahead nonetheless.

At about $4 million, Crapo has already raised nearly double what he did for his 2004 campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Suites for the game are being sold for between $5,000 to $16,000, depending on the location and size of the suite, according to a FedEx Field ticket agent. Twenty-person boxes are on the low end, while 40-person boxes are pricier.

The three congressmen that the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended for investigation into whether they broke ethics rules around the time of the Financial Regulatory Reform bill late last year attended multiple Capitol Hill fundraisers on the days leading up to crucial votes on the bill.

Earlier this year, the independent OCE opened an investigation into 8 lawmakers who received a high level of campaign contributions from the financial industry leading up to the House vote to approve the overhaul on Dec. 11. The OCE dismissed the cases of five lawmakers, and recommended that the House Ethics Committee go forward with three, the New York Times reported.

Here's what we know about the three lawmakers' fundraisers: Joseph Crowley's, D-N.Y., evening fundraiser occurred at the home of a lobbyist who was paid to lobby on the bill, and the event took place while the House was debating a series of amendments that would have strengthened the bill. The invitation to Tom Price's, R-Ga., fundraising luncheon, also on Dec. 10, was specifically aimed at the financial services sector.

The connection between the fundraisers held by John Campbell, R- Calif., and the financial industry is less clear. One of the two events he held on Dec. 9 was at the home of defense industry lobbyists Christopher Perkins and Fleming “Mike” Legg.

All three lawmakers have influential finance-related posts. Crowley is the vice chair of finance at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and serves on the tax writing Ways and Means Committee. Price is the chair of the Republican Study Committee, and he and John Campbell sit on the Financial Services Committee.

In one of the dismissal letters, obtained by the Times, sent to Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, the OCE hinted at why they cleared these five lawmakers, and why the three others may be in hot water. Hensarling was found not to have: “solicited or accepted contributions in a manner which gave the appearance of special treatment or access was being provided to donors or the appearance that the contributions were linked to an official act.”

The e-mail invitation to the event at Legg's D Street townhouse was sent out on Nov. 17, 2009, from Michael Gula of the GOP fundraising firm, the Gula Graham Group, and asked donors to attend a “California Wine Tasting” headlined by Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va. Gula wrote:

“The wine tasting will be at 123 D St., SE right around the corner from the [Capitol Hill Club]. We will have multiple wines from California to try. Any chance you can do $500 of $1K to help Congressman Campbell?"

The e-mail also asks donors to attend another fundraiser earlier that day, a lunch at the Capitol Hill Club, a private GOP club steps from the Capitol, headlined by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.

As for Crowley, during the Dec. 10 debate over amendments, he left to attend his holiday fundraiser at financial sector lobbyist Julie Domenick's home, which doubled as her office. He then came back to vote against amendments that would have strengthened the bill, the Times reported.

Domenick told the Center for Public Integrity that she was asked in early November if the Crowley campaign could use her home for a holiday party, and that the event had nothing to do with the House votes.  At least two dozen fundraisers have been planned at her home these past two years, according to Party Time's database.

Crowley was supposed to attend two other events on Dec. 9 and 10. He was listed as a host for an Adam Smith, D-Wash., fundraiser at a Capitol Hill eatery. The day before, he was scheduled to be at another Hill watering hole, Charlie Palmer Steak, to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee – he serves as the group's vice chair for finance.

Price's lunch was also at the Capitol Hill Club, headlined by Financial Services Committee ranking member Spencer Bachus, R-Ala. Price also held a fundraising breakfast there on Dec. 2, the day the overhaul bill was voted out of committee.

Click here for a list of other fundraisers hosted by lobbyists for the financial industry.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D., Nev., is scheduled to be in California fundraising this Thursday at the Oakland offices of BrightSource Energy -- a solar energy firm that earlier this year secured $1.37 billion in conditional federal loan guarantees to build a massive solar energy complex in Ivanpah, near the California-Nevada border, a project applauded by the Senator.

Hosting the breakfast event are  Brightsource Energy's CEO, John Woolard, and the chairman of PG&E Corporation, Peter Darbee. PG&E will be a major consumer of the electricity generated by the new project, with the first plant expected to go on-line in 2012. Woolard and other company executives have given a total of $6,000 to Sen. Reid since 2009 and PG&E's PAC has given $2,000.

When the U.S. Department of Energy announced the federal loan guarantees in February, Reid lauded the project, saying, "I look forward to BrightSource and other solar companies putting more Nevadans to work by building major projects like this in Nevada very soon."

And at the August 2009 Energy Summit 2.0 Roundtable Discussion led by Reid and the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Woolard praised the Senator, saying that on the subject of solar energy he had "done a very good job of listening and understanding what some of these challenges are," and then went on to describe the Ivanpah project as a jobs creator primarily for people from Clark County, Nevada.

The 400 megawatt solar complex, which when complete will be the world's largest solar energy project, according to the company, will use mirrors to capture the sun's power on 3,600 acres of federal land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In addition to the loan guarantees, the project is considered a "fast track" priority for receiving federal stimulus dollars under the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). BrightSource Energy is also receiving funding from Google.org and BP Alternative Energy among other groups.

Brightsource reported paying $100,000 in the first half of the year hiring  McBee Consulting to "monitor" the loan guarantee program and the ARRA program for the company, according to federal lobbying records. Also on hire for a reported $40,000 was the firm R&R Partners, which represented the firm on stimulus issues. Both lobbyists for the firm, Michael Pieper and Victoria S. Napier, formerly worked for the State of Nevada.

BrightSource also benefits from a Nevada deal with Coyote Springs Land Company, whose chairman, Harvey Whittemore, is a Nevada lobbyist fixture and reportedly close to Reid. Under the deal, BrightSource is leasing land from the company, which already has secured necessary permits from federal agencies, and hopes to provide up to 960 megawatts of solar thermal energy for customers in California and Nevada.

Reid is a staunch proponent of the alternative energy industry, a group which has shown a huge leap in campaign contributions and lobbying spending these past two election cycles, but still is dwarfed by the spending by the older and more entrenched oil and gas industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Reid has received  more campaign cash--$66,000--from the alternative energy industry this election cycle than any other lawmaker. In March, the Solar Energy Industries Association named him "Solar Champion of the Year."

Reid faces a tough campaign this November against Republican Sharron Angle, who according to recent polling is running neck-and-neck with the Senator, despite her also suffering from high negative reactions among voters.

Keenan Steiner contributed to this report.

To view upcoming fundraisers for members of the Congressional leadership, click here. You can also sign up to receive email alerts when we receive invitations for Congressional leadership by providing us your email address here.

Kansas GOP candidate for Congress Kevin Yoder, whose pro-gun and anti-abortion credentials have been put into question by some, courted a conservative crowd at a meet-and-greet event at National Rifle Association offices Wednesday.

Though the invitation did not expressly ask for donations, unlike the $1,000-per-PAC fundraising lunch he held earlier in the day, and there was no sign-up sheet soliciting donations, according to a lobbyist who attended, Yoder did make a pitch to potential donors.

Yoder has a commanding fundraising advantage against Democrat Stephene Moore, the wife of retiring Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., and a registered nurse, in a race that leads slightly in his favor, according to the Cook Political Report.

Among the crowd at the event – attended by about 40 people, according to one participant – were representatives from a conservative group, anti-abortion groups, and lobbyists. Asked about the event outside of NRA headquarters, a few people said they attended because a friend invited them. Many also said they did not know much about the candidate.

Two participants were there to sniff out where Yoder stood on the abortion issue. In the GOP primary, Yoder got by former state Rep. Patricia Lightner despite her endorsement from Kansans for Life. She received $250 in anti-abortion contributions, according to CRP, while Yoder has received none.

Though the NRA endorsed Yoder, gave him an 'A' rating, and contributed $500 to his 2008 state campaign, the state representative got a 'C' back in 2006 and a 'D' in 2004. NRA's PAC plans to spend about $20 million in this election, of which only about $3 million has been spent, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Last election, the vast majority of this bounty went towards advocating for or against candidates.

Before entering NRA offices, both George Melik of the National Pro-Life Alliance and Karen Cross, political director of the National Right to Life Committee, said they wanted to see where Yoder stood on the abortion issue. After the event, Melik said he would consider donating to the campaign. His group gave Rep. Dennis Moore's 2008 opponent, Nick Jordan, $500, according to CRP. The National Right to Life Committee PAC spent over $4 million supporting GOP candidates through independent expenditures in 2008.

Thus far, Yoder has not received any contributions from ideological or single-issue donors, which includes gun rights and abortion organizations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Also attending was lobbyist Larry Hunt of the American Conservative Union, a group which has given Dennis Moore a lifetime rating of 15.5 out of 100.

NRA lobbyist Jeff Freeman, a host at a fundraising lunch for Yoder earlier that day, was setting up the event in what looked like a conference room, with posters of celebrities like actor Tom Selleck and former basketball great Karl Malone defending the Second Amendment.

That's all this reporter got to see before he was escorted out, as the event was “closed."

But according to one lobbyist on hand, who preferred to remain anonymous, Yoder told the crowd he was not there for their cash, though he would not turn it down. He also touted that he has raised money largely without PAC help. However, the luncheon earlier in the day asked for $1,000 from PACs. Although only nine percent of Yoder's contributions come from PACs, his biggest contributors are from the Financial, Insurance and Real Estate sector, according to CRP.

Yoder also told participants that Dennis Moore has not been fiscally or socially conservative, and that his wife would continue governing that way, the lobbyist said.

Click here to download spreadsheet of congressional fundraising events associated with NRA

At a time when most Members of Congress have fled the capital city for the hinterlands, Kevin Yoder, who is running an anti-Washington themed campaign for an open seat in Kansas' third district, is coming to the muggy town for a meet-and-greet--"contributions welcome but not expected"--today at the offices of the National Rifle Association (NRA), confirmed his consulting firm. Yoder is also scheduled for a luncheon fundraiser earlier in the day at Carmine's, hosted by NRA lobbyist Jeff Freeman and AT&T lobbyist Tim McGivern, where contributions from $100 to $1000 are requested.

In November, the Kansas state representative faces off against Democrat Stephene Ann Moore, a registered nurse and the wife of retiring incumbent holding the seat, Dennis Moore. Yoder recently was named to the highest tier of the "Young Guns" program operated by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which makes him eligible for more fundraising and strategic support, reports Politico.

Yoder got support from the gun rights group for his 2008 state campaign, with a $500 contribution, according to followthemoney.org. Earlier this year, Yoder was lauded by the NRA's legislative arm for adding strengthening amendments to a Kansas state bill to expand definitions of "self defense" where it is permissible to use force. The legislature passed the bill and the governor signed it into law in April. Yoder boasts on his campaign website about his  "A" rating from the NRA. While the group is mum about Ms. Moore, her husband got an "F."

Calls and emails to the NRA and Yoder's campaign were not returned by the time of this posting.

To see more fundraisers at the NRA's office, hosted by the NRA, or by lobbyists (names in CAPS) registered to lobby for the NRA in 2009 and 2010 as listed at OpenSecrets.org, click on the link below. Party Time provides this list as a resource for reporters and others interested in following congressional fundraising. When we receive information that an event is canceled or postponed, we note that in our database, but we can not confirm every event.
Keenan Steiner contributed to this post.

Click here to download spreadsheet of congressional fundraising parties associated with NRA

*In today's GOP primary, it's a hot battle between two of Alaska's political lineages: the establishment Stevenites and the startup Palinites. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a protégé of the late Ted Stevens with a big war chest, nearly $450,000 of it raised in the Washington, DC area, is being challenged from the right by Tea Party pick and friend of Todd Palin Joe Miller. Sarah Palin recorded a robo-call for Miller and made a last-minute fundraising appeal to his supporters.

A quick look at Murkowski's Party Time's records and you'll see Stevens' influence. Her most recent fundraiser on file was hosted by the former senator's first chief of staff,  lobbyist Ron Birch, who called him “the single-most honest human being I've ever known.” He and four other Birch, Horton et al lobbyists were listed as hosts of the luncheon. The Anchorage and Washington-based outfit advocates for such diverse Alaska interests as the Prince William Sound Science Center, Enstar Natural Gas and the Alaska Professional Hunters Association.

Another Murkowski D.C. fundraiser earlier this year was hosted by Target PAC. The company has caught flack recently for giving $150,000 to a conservative political group which donated to an Minnesota candidate opposing gay marriage. The company's PAC and executives have contributed $12,400 to Murkowski for this election, including a maximum personal contribution from its CEO, president and chairman of the board Gregg Steinhafel, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

*In Arizona, Ben Quayle (Dan's son), got himself involved in a local scandal, so he is not the clear favorite he once was when he planned this D.C. fundraiser in May. Among the hosts for the GOP-star studded event were Bill Kristol (Dan's former chief of staff) and Fred Malek, chairman of the American Action Network, a new independent expenditure group that aims to spend $25 million this election helping candidates on the right.

Quayle has taken in two-thirds of his about $1.3 million in donations from out-of-state, according to CRP. Businessman Steve Moak, his most serious challenger, has raised slightly less, but 90 percent has come from Arizona donors. The winner will have the advantage in this GOP-leaning district against attorney Jon Hulburd.

*Down in southern Florida, also Republican territory, GOP state Rep. David Rivera will have to get over rumors of past domestic violence to beat Paul Crespo, a conservative media personality, and lawyer Marili Cancio in the primary. According to Party Time invitations, he was feted by what looked like the entire GOP firmament, including House Minority Leader John Boehner, Ohio, and Minority Whip Eric Cantor, Va., back in April and then by National Republican Campaign Committee chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, last month.

*If Rivera wins, he will likely battle Joe Garcia, who lost the seat in 2008 to Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., who is running in a neighboring district. Garcia was part of a Democratic Congressional Committee fundraiser for candidates in its “Red to Blue” program, aimed at turning GOP districts to Democrats. Garcia was thrown a party at the home of big-time Democratic lobbyist and frequent party host Robert Raben. At $1.6 million, Garcia has out-raised Rivera's $1.3 million thus far, according to CRP.

It may be a different crowd than Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., used to get at a fundraiser this weekend for the leadership PAC, GOAL PAC, at the historic Grand Hotel on Michigan's Mackinac Island. Since taking the helm of the House Ways and Means Committee in March when Rep. Charlie Rangel, D, N.Y., stepped down while facing an ethics investigation, the congressman has been raking in campaign cash like never before and has seen a shift in the industry groups that are giving him campaign cash.

In just three months, there has been a steep spike in donations coming in for Levin -- a windfall of more than $664,000 in the second quarter of 2010 compared to about $101,000 in 2008 and only $50,000 in 2006, according to data from the Federal Election Commission.

Also, there is a change in the industries that are contributing to him. He has collected more money from the financial, insurance, and real estate sector than from labor unions for the very first time since such data are available from the Center for Responsive Politics, and is enjoying new donations from lobbying firms with tax practices. (See chart below)

With several months of the 2010 election cycle to go, Levin has already collected $1.9 million for his campaign committee and leadership PAC combined, more than double the  $754,000 he raised in the entire 2008 cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. While labor unions still figure prominently among his top 100 donors, new names are appearing on this cycle's list of top donors that have not been there before, including prominent lobbying firms with thriving tax  practices such as Brownstein Hyatt, Capitol Counsel, Hogan & Hartson, and Patton Boggs.

Interestingly, donors from the firms started contributing last year, before Levin picked up the gavel at the House Ways and Means Committee, but when his name was being mentioned as Rangel's likely successor. Norman Brownstein, one of Brownstein Hyatt's founding partners, bundled $19,650 to the Congressman during the third quarter of 2oo9. A search of federal contributions shows that several of the firm's employees made contributions to Levin toward the end of September. The Denver-based firm, which also counts Steven Farber (who organized the 2008 Democratic convention) represents a long list of corporate clients; the firm's largest lobbying client, Apollo Advisors, which it represents on tax issues, also shows up as a top donor to Levin this election cycle.

John D. Raffaelli, a lobbyist for Capitol Counsel and frequent host of congressional fundraisers, lent his name to this July 2009 fundraiser for the congressman at Johnny's Half Shell. The firm is the source of $4,000 for the congressman in the 2010 election cycle so far, including a total of $1,750 contributed by Raffaelli himself. The lobbyist represents nearly four dozen clients, including the Edison Electric Institute, Home Depot, and the Real Estate Roundtable.

Levin has been spreading around his new found political wealth, with most of his leadership PAC expenditures going to colleagues. He has been focusing his contributions on three Democratic groups, according to this July report in Politco: junior lawmakers in tight races; Michigan candidates; and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Built in 1887, the Grand Hotel is a popular spot for political events, particularly for the Michigan delegation--ironically, given the state's main industry, the island permits no cars. According to federal campaign spending data, among the politicians to shell out money to the hotel recently are Michiganers Bart Stupak (D), Fred Upton (R), Dave Camp (R), and John Dingell (D). Sander Levin was there in June along with the rest of the delegation for the annual Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference. Weekend rates start at $470 per night, according to the hotel's website.

Emails and phone calls to lobbyists and Rep. Levin's campaign office were not returned by the time of this posting.

(Party Time has added new features including e-mail sign ups for Congressional leadership and our stories. Check it out here.)

It's no surprise that Martha's Vineyard, secluded and home to mostly liberals, where the Clintons liked to visit and where President Obama and his family will vacation starting Thursday, is also a place where top Congressional Democrats would choose to hold fundraisers.

A day after the commander-in-chief arrives for a stay on a private farm, Oakland Congresswoman and Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif., will kick off a weekend fundraiser, and if last year’s jaunt is any clue, the festivities could run the campaign more than $18,000, according to analysis of expenditure reports.

Once again, Lee has invited Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., Obama’s scheduled golf buddy last summer, to be a special guest at the fundraiser, and he’ll be attending, his campaign said. This time around, G. K. Butterfield, D-N.C., another member of the CBC, also got top billing on the invitation.

Clyburn, whose leadership PAC has given $5,000 to Lee this cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, has been a draw to at least 19 Democratic fundraisers this year. He has also given more than $1.2 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this year, according to this report in Hotline OnCall.

Many have weighed in on why Democrats flock to Martha’s Vineyard. It’s tolerant and unpretentious, Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree Jr. told the New York Times. The town of Oak Bluffs, where Rep. Lee and her entourage spent some time last summer, according to expenditure reports, is an historic black neighborhood, where Spike Lee and Henry Louis Gates have homes.

It’s also a secluded island, and an expensive one at that, where celebrities can let down their guard down and not worry about paparazzi, Skip Finley, a radio broadcasting executive who calls Oak Bluffs home, told the Times. He donated $450 to Rep. Lee during her weekend event last summer, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He has also given a total of $3,000 to Clyburn over the years.

Yet the Lee campaign has invited guests to stay in Edgartown, more upscale than Oak Bluffs, on the water at the Harbor View Hotel & Resort, which cost the campaign about $4,400 last year, according to expenditure records.

A happy hour at Harbor View and a dinner at Edgartown’s l’etoile Restaurant, with the tab coming to about $6,400, according to CRP, were both on last summer's agenda. An afternoon sail on a catamaran from Edgartown Harbor cost the campaign $2,300.

Lee also spent $750 for a fundraiser at Cousen Rose Gallery, a cultural salon in Oak Bluffs, where she also had time to do a book signing for Renegade for Peace and Justice: Congresswoman Barbara Lee Speaks for Me, reported the Vineyard Gazette (paywalled).

Just being ferried around the island cost the campaign about $850 (Adam Cab). Then there was about $250 of “supplies” brought from a booze and convenience store (Jim’s Package Store), and a $300 fee to a piano player (Peter MacLean), according to expenditure records from CRP.

Just like last year, for $3,000, PACs could send a couple to the event. The ask for individuals is $2,400.

It’s unclear who attended in 2009, but among the eight PACs that gave exactly $3,000 between June and August is the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department. By sector, labor contributes the most to the Oakland Rep., followed by lawyers and lobbyists.

Student lender Sallie Mae and top campaign contributors the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Boeing, Pfizer, Comcast were also among the batch of PACs giving at that time, according to CRP.

To view all of the parties attended by Clyburn and other top brass, Party Time recently unveiled an  "Events by congressional leadership" page, where all of the events attended by Clyburn and other members of the top brass are listed, as well as this page where you can see events where commitee leaders appear.  You can also sign up to receive email alerts for events added to each of these pages.

With the New York primary a month away, Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., is asking donors to belt a $4,800 'Gland Slam' for her on Sunday and join her to watch the Mets take on the Phillies, according to this invitation.

Not taking any chances against her challenger, Reshma Saujani, Maloney has held at least eight fundraisers since May, including the Mets game, according to invitations obtained by Party Time. Recently, the longtime Manhattan Congresswoman's Capitol Hill home was party central three nights in a row -- two going towards her own campaign, and another where she played host to Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio. Kaptur, who was thought to be a safe incumbent, could be in trouble if she doesn't raise more money, as Paul Blumenthal wrote.

One of these house parties was a birthday party for Pat Schroeder, the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado, and Eleanor Smeal, the president of the Feminist Majority Foundation and Rep. Diana Degette, D-Colo.

Saujani, a 34-year-old ex-hedge fund lawyer, has been on the offensive, criticizing Maloney's "capacity" to govern and her acceptance of corporate PAC money, which Saujani has vowed to turn down. She called out Maloney for fundraising at a James Taylor and Carole King concert during the days of the financial regulation conference committee. Maloney, along with several others on the committee, continued to fundraise around the same time as the hearings, as Party Time has previously reported. Though avoiding PAC money, Saujani has taken in about $225,000 from the securities and investment industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Maloney has called her campaign negative and dishonest.

With about $1.2 million raised and about $430,000 on hand, Saujani is behind, according to CRP. Maloney has over $2 million in the bank.

If Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, can't play golf for himself anymore, why not play for others?

Booted from the GOP primary earlier this year, Bennett (along with senior Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah) will be fundraising in Park City this weekend anyhow, though not for himself but for the GOP's North Dakota senate candidate, John Hoeven. After hitting the 'best' golf club in Utah, the party-goers are off to the vacation home of prominent health care lobbyist Jeff Kimbell, a past host at Bennett and Hatch events and a member of President George W. Bush's transition team advisory committee for the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the Party Time invitation.

Bennett had long planned to be in Park City this weekend  for his annual August fly-fishing and golf campaign event. Unfortunately for him, "Flies and Drives" likely flew away soon after he lost his party's nomination. In June, the Bennett campaign would not confirm whether "Flies and Drives" was on. Now it is off, organizers told Party Time.

But it seems that the party animal -- Bennett made the top 5 in Party Time's database last year, including eight events at Capitol Hill eatery Charlie Palmer Steak -- couldn't resist a good fundraiser, 18 holes, and Kimbell's ski lodge-esque home with views of Park City Mountain, which is available for rent at $700-per-night, according to the website. An email sent to Kimbell had not been returned at the time of posting.

Now, on the same day Bennett was supposed to hold his event, popular Gov. John Hoeven, the easy favorite to take the seat held by retiring Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., will be bringing in campaign cash. Hoeven and Bennett share the same fundraising consultants -- the Bellwether Group -- as listed on the two invitations. The Utah senator has paid the group nearly $50,000 this cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The day's events include an intimate $1,000-per-person golf outing where just three foursomes will be playing at Park City's Glenwild Golf Club. Then the group is off to a $500-per-head reception at Kimbell's home.

As for life after Congress, Bennett, 76, seems a bit lost right now, telling the Salt Lake Tribune he wants to be productive -- "I don't want to go off and make ships in a bottle, collect stamps or something of that kind." The DC Party circuit certainly won't be the same. Charlie Palmer Steak will miss his presence, and the $16,500 spent there this election cycle.