Senate, Campaign Fund-raising | featured news

The ads have hit hard: In one, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is slammed as an out-of-touch politician who saddled his state's manufacturers with higher taxes by voting for President Obama's health care law. In another, he is savaged for his "failed record on energy."

Senate Republicans blocked Democratic-backed legislation requiring organizations pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into campaign ads to disclose their top donors and the amounts they spend.

GOP candidates in the closest campaigns for the Senate have moved ahead of their Democratic rivals in the fund-raising race, according to reports released late Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's campaign ended 2009 with less money in the bank than it had in September after financing an advertising blitz intended to buff his bruised image in his home state of Nevada, records released Friday showed.

After spending an average of $22,000 a day from October through December, Reid still holds a commanding fundraising edge over any of his potential Republican opponents in November.