Dan Maffei (D), the former Capitol Hill staffer who is seeking a rematch with Rep. Jim Walsh (R), is returning to his former stomping grounds Tuesday evening for a happy hour fundraiser.

The event is being hosted at the Top of the Hill tavern on Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast by Howard Wolfson, the New York Democratic consultant extraordinaire; Francis Creighton, who heads the government affairs shop at the Mortgage Bankers Association; Bill Frymoyer, director of government relations at Stewart and Stewart, a Washington, D.C., law firm; and Jason Lumia, a longtime House Budget Committee staffer who also has worked for the National Governors Association, among other places. The minimum ticket price is $25.

Maffei, a former TV newscaster in his hometown of Syracuse who also worked for the House Ways and Means Committee and then-Sens. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), gave Walsh the biggest scare of his 10-term Congressional career, finishing just 3,400 votes out of the money in 2006.

Maffei, who was outspent almost 2-1 by Walsh in the previous cycle, raised $218,000 from April 1 to June 30 and finished the period with $234,000 in the bank. Walsh raised $301,000 and banked $345,000.

— Josh Kurtz