NYT: Romney raises $170 million to finance final push
"In an e-mail to top donors and fund-raisers on Monday afternoon, Mr. Romney’s campaign said that it had raised $170 million in September, almost as much as the near-record $181 million raised by Mr. Obama." Politico on the various committees this money goes to, Bloomberg, LA Times, WaPo, USA Today.

PCAF: Pro-Scott Brown Super PAC Funded by William Koch
First reported on PCAF's site: "A new report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) shows that a pro-Scott Brown super PAC is funded almost entirely by Oxbow Carbon, the company controlled by William Koch, the lesser-known brother of Charles and David Koch."

Boston Globe: Elizabeth Warren raises $12.1 million, Scott Brown $7.45 million, in latest Senate campaign quarter
Stunning fundraising figures for Elizabeth Warren yesterday: "Elizabeth Warren, who has been the nation’s leading congressional fund-raiser this year, today announced raising $12.12 million during the most recent quarter for her bid to unseat Senator Scott Brown, who raised $7.45 million."

Politico: Unions spread cash to liberal super PACs
Unions are ponying up to Democratic super PACs.

Washington Times: Healthcare and petroleum lobbyists raise $9M for Romney
"Though Republican Mitt Romney has at times positioned himself as a Washington outsider, 42 federal lobbyists raised a total of $9 million for his campaign over the past three months, disclosures showed Tuesday." PCAF has the full list, with clients.

Other 3rd quarter news:

• Capitol Tonight: Romney returns Grimm's cash
• Politico: Donald Trump gives $100,000 to Boehner super PAC
• MPR News: Bachmann continues to lead MN candidates in fundraising
• Times Tribune: Smith gives Casey a run for his money (PA)
• Politico: Ex-GOP presidential candidates still in debt
• AP: Heinrich, Wilson near $6M in fundraising (NM)
• NaJo: Monday afternoon fundraising roundup
• Politico: Boehner rakes in $4M in 4th quarter
• NaJo: King more than doubles Summers fundraising haul (ME)

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
AP: Federal campaign finance ruling among issues that divide Conn. Senate candidates
Love that this issue is coming up in debates: "Connecticut's Senate candidates differ over whether corporations should have the ability to make independent expenditures during political campaigns." Chris Murphy opposes Citizens United but Linda McMahon "says she believes corporations have free speech rights, allowing them to buy political ads."

Roll Call: Fraud, fights, and failures
Amanda Becker reviews Rick Hasen's book, "The Voting Wars."

BNA: FEC deadlocks over joint fundraising bid by 501c4 regulated political committee (PDF)
You're going to be shocked: "The Federal Election Commission deadlocked on a legal ruling about whether a nonprofit corporation can engage in joint fund-raising activity with FEC-regulated political action committees, including a so-called Super PAC."

CLC: Citizens United and foreign money in elections
Watch Meredith McGehee talk about "the ease with which foreign interests could be pouring money into our elections."

Congress/2012
Roll Call: Lobbyists might join Romney's team
"Lobbyists expect the revolving door from K Street to the White House to once again spin freely if Romney is elected." CRP's Sheila Krumholz: "Folks that have been out in the wilderness will be in the catbird seat in a Romney administration." Similar story at Politico.

NPR: Study: Secret donors significantly fueling pro-Romney TV ads
"Since April, most of the TV ads supporting Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney have come from outside groups, not from Romney's own campaign. And those groups raised more than half of their money from secret donors, according to a six-month study of ads."

WaPo: Romney campaign to fete big donors at retreat
Washington Post looks at the retreat for Romney donors happening now in NYC. A nice reminder that the campaign has still not released its bundlers, unlike President Obama, former President George W. Bush, and Sen. John McCain.

Salt Lake Tribune: Talking Money
Great editorial on the Love/Matheson race in Utah and all the money flowing into it: "Aside from whether the messages are true, the candidates themselves will be influenced by these messages and who paid for them. The candidate who is successful will be indebted to the people who put up big money and produced the ads that helped to tip the election. You can bet that these chits will be called in Congress."

NaJo: What's keeping Norm Coleman so busy?
Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) is busy chairing a super PAC and American Action Network, but he's found time to finally register as a lobbyist.

WSJ: Adelsons invest more in New Jersey race
"Mr. Adelson, CEO of the Las Vegas Sands empire, and his wife, Miriam Adelson, have given another $500,000 to the Patriot Prosperity PAC, an independent super PAC supporting Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, according to people with knowledge of the gift."

NYT: Jackson is invested over money in campaign
"Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr....is being investigated by federal authorities for the possible misuse of campaign money, a federal official confirmed on Monday."

AP: American Crossroads making new $11M ad blitz aimed at women
"A Republican-leaning independent group supporting Mitt Romney's presidential bid is spending $11.1 million on new television ads aimed at women. The ad campaign, set to begin Tuesday and run for a week in eight closely contested states, is part of a big push in the final three weeks before the Nov. 6 election."

WaPo: League of Conservation Voters spends heavily on 2012 campaign
LCV "has spent nearly $8 million and influenced races such as the battle for New Mexico’s open Senate seat, where Democratic Rep. Martin Heinrich is leading former GOP Rep. Heather Wilson."

Fast Company: Silicon Valley companies adjust to a new norm in Washington
Tech companies learned fast that they're just like everyone else when it comes to the influence game: "But eventually the garage startups that once worried about survival grew into multinational corporations concerned with regulation and taxes. And they grudgingly began making their way east."

NYT: 73,000 political ads test even a city of excess
Happy I'm not a TV watcher in Vegas: "And late last week, when the count passed 73,000, Las Vegas set the record as the place with the most televised campaign advertisements in a single year."

The Hill: Professors donate to Obama, opine about election in the news
"At least a half-dozen professors who gave political donations to President Obama have been quoted in news articles opining about his administration and the 2012 race for the White House."

Sunlight: Shadowy super PAC spends $1 million in Connecticut House race
"The Government Integrity Fund Action Network, a super PAC that to date has disclosed just $10,500 in contributions, today reported dropping a money bomb in a Connecticut House race: $1.1 million in to produce and air ads in opposition to Elizabeth Esty, the Democratic candidate in her state's 5th Congressional District."

NYT: Wall Street's fundraising push for Romney
"The Wall Street supporters of Republican candidate Mitt Romney are making a last fund-raising push as the election heads into its final three weeks."

Sunlight: Hawaii Senate race draws big donors
Hawaii Senate: "Both women have attracted considerable support from inside and outside their state, as well as from a host of interest groups, which have pumped more than $1 million into the race."

Sunlight: Moderate millionaire floods far-flung House race
"The super PAC of one of California’s richest political donors, who supports centrist Republicans, has dropped more money on an obscure House race than both candidates combined"

Boston Globe: Union leaders, Menino huddle on Senate race strategy
"With the election 25 days away, Mayor Thomas M. Menino huddled in Dorchester with more than a dozen of the city’s building and trades union leaders Saturday to figure out how to persuade voters — including many in organized labor — to cast their ballot for Elizabeth Warren for US Senate."

Iowa CCI Action: Paul Ryan's budget bankrolls itself
The PCAF report with HCAN about insurance industry money fueling Ryan supporters gets picked up by our friends in Iowa.

Politico: Anti-Obama group putting $900,000 into Ohio
"Barack Obama's about to get hit with almost a million dollars in negative ads in Ohio from a group calling itself Checks and Balances for Economic Growth, according to a source tracking the Buckeye State air war."

Palm Beach Daily News: Romney backers add second fundraiser in PB on Saturday
"Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will make two fundraising stops on the island Saturday, collecting donations ranging from $2,500 to $50,000 a person."

Other/States
Times-Union: Report: Donors give to majority
"It's something of a 'dog bites man' statement, but the Center for Working Families will issue a report Tuesday detailing a 'big switch' in corporate giving to state senators of opposite political parties after Democrats captured control of the upper chamber for 2009 and 2010."