House campaign committees have raised nearly a billion dollars for the 2010 midterm elections and are on pace to surpass the sum of receipts reported for 2008.

With more than a month of fever-pitched fundraising left in the cycle, House campaign committees have reported taking in more than $950 million this election cycle, according to a CQ MoneyLine study of disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Altogether, House candidates’ receipts are likely to outpace the 2008 election cycle, when just over $1 billion was donated to House races. These funds, which include the interest payments and other small receipts of some former candidates who are not on the 2010 ballot, show Republicans with a modest cash-raising edge.

House GOP candidates have raised $491 million through the end of September while House Democratic candidates have taken in just under $456 million — an 8 percent advantage. Meanwhile, candidates outside the two main parties reported receipts of $3.8 million.

Individual donors have proved to be a key area of fundraising for the GOP, which hopes to take back control of the House after the Nov. 2 election. House Republican candidates have raised more than $298.7 million from personal contributions compared with just $256.9 million for their Democratic counterparts — a lead of more than 16 percent.

Some of the individuals making the largest donations to the GOP have been the candidates themselves. This cycle, House Republican candidates have racked up $73 million in debt – mostly from personal loans – compared with $19 million for Democrats.

While the GOP leads in funds from individuals, House Democratic candidates still have a leg up in the money donated by political action committees. PACs have given $174 million to House Democratic hopefuls while giving $106 million to Republicans.

House Democratic campaigns have also been a little more frugal with their money during the 2010 election cycles, by spending $380 million to the GOP’s $391 million.

This frugality, coupled with a $63 million cash-on-hand surplus left over from the 2008 election cycle, has left Democrats with more money in the bank going into the last month of the election.

As of the end of September, House Democratic candidates have $174 million in cash on hand compared with less than $106 million in reserves for House Republican candidates.