Presidential candidates aren't the only ones collecting large amounts of donations this year. Throughout Congress, incumbents and challengers alike have been raising excessive amounts of money -- with ten months to go before the election.

In Indiana, Rep. Pete Visclosky is currently the leading fundraiser, having collected almost $1 million. According to campaign finance reports, his challenger, Mark J. Leyva, has raised just less than $1,500. In the 2006 election, Visclosky raised $1.37 million, compared to Leyva's $10,940.

With the election still months away, Visclosky is on track for his fifth consecutive increase in donations. According to some experts, one of the major factors for these increases is Visclosky's position in Washington, including his seat on the Appropriations Committee.

"Given that the Democrats now hold the majority in the House and that the Appropriations Committee is one of the three most important House committees, it wouldn't be surprising that Rep. Visclosky would be the target of a lot of interested money," said Marjorie Hershey, professor of political science at Indiana University.

Because members of Congress are on extremely tight schedules, campaign contributors are much more likely to gain an audience with them.

"That doesn't necessarily mean you'll get your way, but it does provide some access," said Bert Rockman, head of the political science department at Purdue University. "We recognize that in the private sector, too -- airlines give more attention to people who ride first class."

Being in Congress since 1984 also impacts Visclosky's ability to raise funds.

"He's a senior Democrat in a safe district," Rockman said. "Typically as members become more senior, they are able to raise more money."

When candidates such as Visclosky are in "safe districts" with little competition, they often use their funds as a war chest to fund junior members' campaigns, Rockman said. Although campaign finance regulations limit the amount of money an individual can contribute, there is no law limiting how much a family can donate.

"If you've got a family, you can write what amounts to a $10,000 check," Rockman said. "The husband will contribute the maximum, the wife will, and even the young children."

In addition to Visclosky's longevity and key committee position, another reason for his increasing donations might be the overall trends with political fundraising. According to Hershey, campaign donations have been growing nationwide.

"There are a lot of reasons for the increase," Hershey said. "The breakdown of the campaign finance reforms of the 1970s, increasing media costs, the big jump in the number of outside groups such as 527s, and the current political polarization have all pushed up spending in House and Senate campaigns around the country."

The other notable issue regarding Visclosky's fundraising is that the majority of his donations -- 78.7 percent -- come from outside Indiana. This figure is one of the top three highest in the House, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Top-contributing areas include Washington, D.C., California and New York.

Rockman said this phenomena is not uncommon, and that fundraising has essentially become a national process.

"Indiana is not a big money-raising state," Rockman said. "If you follow the money trails, most of the money comes from New York, California, south Florida, and a few places in Texas and around Chicago. It's just where the big money happens to be in the country."

Rockman also said the locations of labor unions might have something to do with the out-of-state funds going to Visclosky.

"He's a true and true labor guy," Rockman said of Visclosky. "Labor unions don't have much clout these days, but the one thing they do have is money for contributions. And they're out of state mostly."

According to Rockman, more problematic than out-of-state donations is the overall influence of money in politics. Rockman said that although other countries have managed to mitigate the problem, the current U.S. campaign system allows for money to become a large factor with politicians.

"Our campaigns are just designed to build in a greater prospect of corruption and the power of special interests, whoever they might be," Rockman said. "It's not that they're doing anything corrupt, they're just doing what the system has created."