$$ in Texas-22 Race

Give to the democrat and you can be rest assured that your money won't go to legal expenses.

Lampson, unopposed in the Democratic primary, raised $250,970 in the same time frame and spent $125,027. He has more than $1.4 million on hand.

Tom Campbell, one of DeLay's foes in the GOP primary, received about $77,000 in the first six weeks of 2006, spent about $115,000 and had around $17,000 on hand as of Feb. 15.

Former school teacher Pat Baig received $1,000 in this reporting period, spent about $23,000 and had roughly $35,000 in the bank. She also made a $55,000 personal loan to her campaign.

Lawyer Mike Fjetland received about $7,000 in the first six weeks of this year, spent about $3,000 and had about $3,000 on hand.

DeLay, who faces three contenders in the March 7 Republican primary for the 22nd Congressional District seat, raised $154,712 and spent $304,795 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15, the time span covered in the reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. The lawmaker reported having about $1.3 million in the bank.

But what is this about?

DeLay's largest recent expenditure — $110,000 — went to the law firm employing Richard Cullen, the attorney representing him in the Justice Department investigation of an influence-peddling scandal involving indicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.