"Joel Connelly: Edwards here next week (TODAY, actually), candidates raise Wash. $"

Seattle P-I:

Former Sen. John Edwards, the presidential hopeful most often seen in Washington, is coming back on Wednesday, September 19th, to visit a familiar venue for a familar purpose.

Edwards will appear at a $100-per-person reception, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Westin Hotel. He will later attend a dinner at a private Seattle home. The dinner is open to those who contribute $1,000 or more to Edwards' campaign, or who raise at least $1,000.

The event's sponsors indicate the breadth of Edwards' support in the state: They include former Democratic State Chairman Paul Berendt, businesman Jon Bridge, Conservation Northwest head Mitch Friedman, and trial lawyer Jenny Durkan.

As of mid-year Federal Election Commission filings, presidential candidates had raised $2.553 million in Washington state.

Edwards gets the bronze medal so far. He has reported $424,327 in contributions from Washington residents. He trails Republican hopeful Mitt Romney ($483,760) and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama ($798,373).

Curiously, the national leader in fundraising, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has reported only $270,440 collected in Washington, out of $62.5 million raised.

The Clinton figures will change next month.

The latest projected date for a visit by the New York senator is October 22nd.

So far in the 2008 campaign cycle, the Westin Hotel has played host to Obama, Gov. Bill Richardson, D-New Mexico, candidate spouses Elizabeth Edwards and Bill Clinton, and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

Almost nobody has ventured outside of metropolitan Seattle. Mitt Romney did hold a luncheon on the East Side, and Bill Richardson an event with tribal leaders.

Howie P.S.: I just saw this in Ben Smith's blog this morning, nine days after it was published. I'm losing my edge.