ASHINGTON - Money is pouring into politics as never before. Thirty-seven House candidates have already raised at least $1 million - a fourfold increase over 1998. And the Democratic and Republican parties have almost doubled their intake of ''soft money'' - unregulated donations -since 1996.
''Will there be a record that hasn't been broken by the end of the cycle?'' said Larry Makinson, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that studies money and campaigns.
Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush set the pace by raising more than $84 million to shatter all presidential fund-raising records.
The Federal Election Commission reported yesterday that 37 House candidates had raised at least $1 million between Jan. 1, 1999, and March 31, 2000, compared with just seven during the same 15-month period two years earlier.
The Democrats need just six seats to recapture the House, and both parties and campaign contributors are focusing on a handful of close races that will decide who holds the majority.
The list includes two Republicans who presented impeachment evidence against President Clinton to the Senate:
The top House fund-raiser, Representative Jim Rogan, Republican-California, faces a tough challenge from California state Senator Adam Schiff in a district Rogan won with just 51 percent of the vote in 1998. Rogan raised $3.8 million through March 31 - more than twice the $1.4 million raised for his entire 1998 campaign. Schiff raised $1.9 million to lead all challengers.
Representative Bob Barr, Republican-Georgia, who raised $1.6 million for his successful 1998 campaign, already has raised $1.8 million for his reelection.
One of the targeted Democrats, Representative Shelley Berkley, Democrat-Nevada, who raised $1.3 million for her last race, raised $1.2 million through March 31.
''Because people believe there are only 20 or 25 seriously competitive races out there, each one of them is their own private Fort Knox,'' Democratic consultant Peter Fenn said. ''Money is flowing into the handful of races in unprecedented amounts.''
