Although there has been a post election lull in parties around DC, quite a few events are being held exclusively for the freshmen members of the 111th Congress. Most of the money from these events goes towards any election debt accrued during their campaigns

For example lobbyists for the National Association of Federal Credit Union, Amanda Slater and Brad Thaler hosted a fundraiser for Representative-Elect Alan Grayson, D.Fla., where they invited guests for a basketball game in DC’s Verizon Centeron November 18. The suggested contributions for the “2008 General Election Debt” were $2,500 for a PAC Sponsor or $1,000 for a PAC Guest. Some other fundraisers include luncheons for Representative-elect Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., and victory celebrations for others including Senator-elect Steve Austria, R-Ohio.

But many of these newly elected members of Congress are no strangers to these fund raising events. Even when they were running for office earlier this year, fliers collected by Party Time show that there were at least 200 events held for these newly elected members. Sponsors for those events ranged from top DC-based lobbying firms like DLA Piper to PACs like Emily’s List.

Other than the newcomers, some members of Congress like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., are already announcing 2010 campaigns, holding their campaign kickoff events in early December.

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