Now that Democrats have put a big, fat target on his back, Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R) is stepping up his fundraising activity.

Knollenberg has a fundraising lunch scheduled for Wednesday and a breakfast fundraiser on Thursday. Both events are taking place on Capitol Hill.

Running against an underfunded talk radio host, Knollenberg took just 52 percent of the vote in 2006 after running up considerably higher victory margins in previous election cycles. This year, Democrats are trying to persuade State Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters (D), a former state Senator and 2002 Democratic nominee for state attorney general, to challenge the Congressman.

Knollenberg raised $264,000 in the first three months of 2007 and finished March with $280,000 in the bank.

His suburban Detroit district is fairly competitive in presidential elections.
— Josh Kurtz