2008 Money Race: Congress

Each of West Virginia's three U.S. House members have raised $500,000 or more toward their re-election bid, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd, leads the delegation in this regard, with nearly $1.3 million on hand as of Sept. 30.

But the real news may be the $150,000 that state Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, has attracted in his bid to challenge Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd.

As The Associated Press reports, "Unger appears better positioned than his predecessor. Democrat Mike Callaghan did not reach the $150,000 mark in his unsuccessful 2006 challenge of Capito until that year's primary election."

AP also observes that "No Republicans have yet surfaced to take on (Rep. Alan) Mollohan (D-1st) or Rahall, while none of the three incumbents yet faces a declared primary challenger. But at least one other Democrat, Thornton Cooper, plans to seek the nomination to take on Capito."

Cooper announced his candidacy after the reporting period. Besides the money edge for any contested primary, Unger also enjoys the support of both Rahall and Mollohan. Such was in evidence at Saturday's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.

(I'm told the dinner raised $280,000 for the state Democratic Party, though the costs of staging it at the Charleston Civic Center could reach $80,000.)