Pricey Colorado Senate Race Now Tied, Political Frenzy in Alaska and More in Capital Eye Opener: October 26

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NEW POLL SHOWS DEAD HEAT IN COLORADO SENATE CONTEST: Republican challenger Ken Buck's lead in the contest for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat against incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has disappeared in the final weeks before Election Day, according to a poll released earlier this week.

Aside from the surprise last-minute Democratic comeback, the Colorado Senate race is also notable for another reason -- the contest has drawn far more outside spending than any other congressional race in the country this election cycle, attracting more than $29.6 million in outside funding so far through Monday, including $25 million for the general election alone.

Big-time outside spenders involved in the race include the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has pumped $6.4 million into the contest, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has invested an additional $4 million, and the conservative American Crossroads political outfit, which has spent more than $4.7 million on the race. (American Crossroads' 501©4 nonprofit sister group Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies has spent an additional $213,000 and counting as well.)

Outside groups have spent more than $8 million opposing each candidate, and Buck has drawn $2.6 million from outside groups supporting his efforts, compared to $1.3 million spent in support of Bennet.

POLITICAL CHAOS IN THREE-WAY ALASKA SENATE RACE: Ethics violations, staffers "arresting" reporters, party flip-flops and bitter social media mudslinging: Politics in Alaska aren't pretty at the moment.

After admitting he used government computers as part of an attempt to oust a state Republican Party official, Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller is, for the moment, at the center of political controversy in the state. However, Republican incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who Miller defeated in a party primary earlier this year with help from the Tea Party, is now under fire for challenging Miller in a debate earlier this week.

Murkowski, who despite losing the primary has continued running to retain her seat as a write-in candidate, has drawn the ire of none other than ex-Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who slammed Murkowski's "nasty" tactics in a Facebook post entitled "Lisa's Gall vs. Joe's Honor," which has already elicited more than 2,200 "likes" on the social networking site.

Still, Murkowski is retaining a significant lead in fund-raising after the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. In addition to more than doubling Miller's total campaign haul $3.8 million to $1.4 million, Murkowski has a huge lead over the contest's third candidate, Democrat Scott McAdams, who has raised a total of $636,700.

MONDAY'S TOP OUTSIDE SPENDERS: On Monday, one new independent expenditure-only committee -- the groups blessed by the Federal Election Commission earlier this summer, which are allowed to raise unlimited amounts of money from individuals, unions and corporations for political messages that overtly advocate for or against federal candidates -- was the top outside spender in the country. The committee headed by ####### Morris, the former adviser to President Bill Clinton-turned-conservative commentator, Super PAC for America dropped $1.08 million in 11 congressional districts. "As you know, there are 50 likely seats that Republicans will win this year," Morris said in a recent fund-raising appeal. "Super PAC for America' approach will be even more aggressive... With a relatively small amount of money spent by Super PAC for America in these districts we could win an additional 50 seats. And this will give Republicans 100 new seats for this Congress!" As a whole, independent expenditure-only committees are informally called "Super PACs." They have arisen in the wake of weakened campaign finance rules in light of federal court rulings in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission.

Center for Responsive Politics researcher Spencer MacColl and money-in-politics reporter Michael Beckel contributed to this report.

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