Former Rep. Chris Bell (D) was awarded a $2 million settlement from the Republican Governors Association in the resolution of a campaign finance issue from the 2006 Texas gubernatorial race, the Houston Chronicle reported on Wednesday.

A judge ruled that the RGA violated state law when it gave $1 million to Gov. Rick Perry (R) late in the race. Bell charged that the group broke state law when it didn't reveal who donated the money. Since the group is not involved in federal races, it's not subject to the same limits other party campaign committees are.

The RGA plans to appeal spokesman Mike Schrimpf said Wednesday.

"Today's ruling is just one step in a four-year political lawsuit brought by Democrat trial lawyer and failed gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell," Schrimpf said, according to the Chronicle. "We believe the judge ruled incorrectly and are confident we will win on appeal, which we will file immediately. Unfortunately, this junk lawsuit has gone on for four years, and to the Democratic trial lawyers' dreams, will likely go on two or three more. The good news is that it won't divert from our efforts to win in Texas or any other state this cycle."

Perry was originally included in the lawsuit but chose to settle with Bell for $426,000 earlier this year.

Bell now works as a lawyer in Houston. He was first elected to the House in 2002 but lost his seat after a mid-decade redistricting in 2004.

Congressional candidates can start spending funds to prepare for any potential recounts well before the polls open.

The Federal Election Commission unanimously agreed in a 6-0 vote Thursday afternoon that campaigns are permitted to spend money for recount-related costs at any time before or after the elections.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee requested the FEC's opinion to find out whether it could use recount funds to retain attorneys, pay staff, do research and defray the costs of soliciting donations to the recount fund.

Making good on his pledge to do more to help House Democrats in their fall campaigns, President Barack Obama on Wednesday appealed directly to his base to donate money to "my great Democratic partners in the House" before a major reporting deadline next week.

In an e-mail to supporters of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Obama hails House Democrats for their accomplishments over the past year and a half and insists they are poised to retain control of the House in November--that is, if they have the financial backing of their supporters.

"Tuesday marks a critical FEC reporting deadline for my friends at the DCCC, the only Democratic political committee solely dedicated to protecting the House. I'm asking for your help to make their $1 million grassroots goal before midnight Tuesday to continue the work we've only just begun," says the president.

Congressional candidates might be able to get a jump-start any potential recounts well before the polls open.

The Federal Election Commission today released a draft opinion that would allow campaigns to spend money for recount-related costs at any time before or after the election.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee requested the FEC's opinion to find out if it could use recount funds to retain attorneys, pay staff, do research and defray the costs of soliciting donations to the recount fund.

The opinion could be approved tomorrow, when the agency is slated to hold its regularly scheduled open meeting.

Our CQ Moneyline colleague Alex Knott runs the numbers on House campaign dollars and finds that in this year's House races, more Democratic donors tend to cross state lines, while more Republican donors tend to keep their money close to home.

The No.1 House campaign in terms of out-of-state money from individual donors is the re-election bid of Democrat Dennis Kucinich in Ohio.

Check out Alex's story, which includes a Top 10 list, here. One caveat: This counts only the money reported from individual givers, not PACs, and it doesn't include dollars allowed to be reported with no name attached because the giver contributed less than $250.

Worth a look this morning: More than a dozen political groups have organized in recent weeks to spend large amounts of money on attack ads against House and Senate candidates, reports USA Today.

The story provides an inventory of the recent action across the country as politically active groups take advantage of the opportunity and anonymity afforded by federal court rulings.

Former Senate Majority Leader and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole has picked his side in the race for Florida's next senator.

He's given $1,000 to ex-Republican Charlie Crist.

Hat Tip: Greg Giroux for spotting it in this FEC report.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee's new web ad aims to throw back at Democrats claims that the GOP is running "extreme" Senate candidates.

The 80-second ad plays like a movie trailer, with dramatic music and an ending kicker that reads: "Mr. President, that's extreme. Don't believe us? You'll find out on November 2nd."

The ad features a news clip of Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine saying, "Republicans are putting up a whole series of candidates that are way outside the mainstream of what Americans want."

With less than a week to go in his primary challenge to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), fundraising reports filed last week show Joe Miller well behind in the money race.

According to the reports, Murkowski had $1.9 million in the bank after raising $300,000 from July 1 to Aug. 4. Miller brought in just $68,000 in that span and now has $84,000 on hand. Miller previously loaned his campaign $103,000.

Miller boasts endorsements from such national GOP figures as Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, but it's not apparent that will be enough to push him past the 8-year Senate veteran. A poll released last month by Ivan Moore Research found Murkowski ahead by a 32-point margin.

Murkowski was appointed to the Senate by her father, then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, in 2002. She won a close 2004 election to a full Senate term over Democrat Tony Knowles, who lost to Palin two years later in the gubernatorial race.

Two nonprofit groups affiliated with Karl Rove are airing campaign ads in Colorado and Ohio, reports USA Today On Politics.

To air the ad above, American Crossroads is spending $500,000 to run ads on network TV stations to portray Senate candidate Rob Portman as a listener, not a talker.

In Colorado, the report says, American Crossroads GPS is spending $425,000 to attack the record of Sen. Michael Bennet (D) with the ad below:

CQ-Roll Call rates both races as Tossups. Check out the ratings for all the Senate contests with our election map.

-- Katherine Rizzo

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has quietly become one of the most sought-after attractions on the Republican money circuit.

The evidence?

By mid-September, McDonnell will have held 15 fundraising events for out-of-state candidates, reports CNN's Peter Hamby.

McDonnell fundraisers on the calendar for gubernatorial candidates John Kasich (Ohio), Roy Blunt (Missouri) Susana Martinez (New Mexico) and Brian Sandoval (Nevada.)

McDonnell already has helped Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and gubernatorial candidates Tom Corbett (Pennsylvania), Sam Brownback (Kansas), Brian Dubie (Vermont) and Bob Ehrlich (Maryland.)

Next month, he'll help raise money for two Senate candidates: Marco Rubio, who's running in Florida, and California's Carly Fiorina.

"The campaigns are coming to us," McDonnell's political adviser Phil Cox tells CNN.

-- Katherine Rizzo

President Obama swings into full campaign mode next week, crisscrossing the country for a string of fundraisers aimed at boosting Democrats before the November elections.

Obama will kick off the week with a Monday fundraiser for Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett before heading to Los Angeles that night for a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee event hosted by John Wells, the NBC executive producer of "ER" and "The West Wing," reports our Roll Call colleague Jennifer Bendery.

The DCCC has been making an appeal to grassroots groups in the lead-up to the Southern California event: The organization e-mailed supporters Wednesday with a letter from Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging them to enter a contest to win a free trip to Los Angeles and attend the affair as her guests.

In advance of today's presidential trip to Texas, the Houston Chronicle's R.G. Ratcliffe chronicles the complaints of Democrats who see their party pulling more cash out of the state than comes back via campaign help.

Writes Ratcliffe: "President Barack Obama arrives in Texas today for what political professionals call a 'bag drag.' The term refers to his main purpose for being in the Lone Star state: raising money for the Democratic National Committee at a luncheon in Austin and for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Dallas."

"If they'd invest this money in Texas, we'd be a blue (Democratic) state," long-time party consultant Glenn Smith tells the newspaper. "They (national party leaders) come down here and drag the sack and spend the money on themselves."

The article cites these numbers from the Center for Responsive Politics:

During the 2008 election cycle, the Democratic National Committee raised $6.5 million from Texas donors and left $204,000 behind with that state's party, while the Ohio Democratic Party got $8.5 million; Pennsylvania, $6.5 million; and Michigan, $4.9 million. "Even neighboring New Mexico received $2.1 million," the story says.

-- Katherine Rizzo

How far can $1 million go in South Dakota? A Republican challenger's hoping to find out.

State Rep. Kristi Noem is asking fellow members of the GOP to help her raise at least $1 million in the final three months of her campaign against Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D), reports the Rapid City Journal.

That's a mighty big number for a state where commercial time is a lot cheaper than in other places.

Noem told a Republican audience that she wants to have twice the $500,000 that she says is going to be spent against her by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

As of July 1, Noem's campaign had $291,677 on hand versus $706,000 in the incumbent's campaign account.

-- Katherine Rizzo

The American Resort Development Association's political committee has agreed to pay a $300,000 fine for violating campaign laws prohibiting corporate contributions and donations from foreign nationals.

It is the largest penalty the Federal Election Commission has imposed since 2007.

In addition to the penalty, ARDA-ROC PAC agreed transfer $560,000 to its member homeowners associations. The FEC released a statement today that also singled out the political action committee's treasurer Sandra Yartin DePoy for "misstating financial activity" and "improperly soliciting contributions."

The fine closes a three-year investigation by the FEC, which initiated the review after going through suspicious transactions.

-- Alex Knott