While all 435 Houses seats will be contested next November, only about 10-15% of these races will be competitive. The most competitive races are, of course, characterized by large amounts of campaign fundraising.
Rep. Joe Wilson from S.C., who famously yelled "you lie" to President Obama during his address to Congress last month, finds himself in a 2010 matchup with Democrat Rob Miller which has raised $4.5 million ($2.7M for Wilson and $1.7M) in the third quarter of 2009 alone.
Opensecrets.org, the website for the Center for Responsive Politics, contains a wealth of information about campaign fundraising activities. It profiles the most competitive races:
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/10/across-the-nation-big-money-co.html#)
The website also allows users to identify individual and corporate/PAC donations to indivdual campaigns.
Try having your students use this site to do research on their home congressional district: Is it considered a competitive district? Who are the candidates and how much money are they raising? Who is donating to their campaigns?
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