Special interest groups gave $6.5 million to 88 new-to-town freshmen during the first three months of the 113th Congress. The first-quarter fundraising period was a great welcoming event to town, or what is appropriately called the banks of the Potomac. Twenty-two new members each received more than $100,000.

During the first three months of the new Congress, these freshmen received their committee assignments and began to quickly raise campaign contributions to pay off debts and build war chests for their next campaign — even if they didn’t know of an opponent yet. In the midst of learning about Congress, these freshmen found time to raise contributions from political action committees of corporations, trade associations, unions and issue groups, as well as from other members of Congress.

Here is the  ranking of new-to-town freshmen* and the amount their campaign committees received from PACs and other committees in the first quarter of 2013.

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill.,  $250,963
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.,  $221,000
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky.,  $183,075
Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.,  $182,105
Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo.,  $174,000
Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, $172,500
Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif.,  $163,750
Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.,  $154,053
Rep. Dan Maffei, D-N.Y.,  $148,000
Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Texas, $139,000
Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C.,  $135,859
Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash.,  $126,200
Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif.,  $119,000
Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill.,  $116,675
Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn.,  $116,105
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill.,  $111,592
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.,  $111,500
Rep. Bill Enyart, D-Ill.,  $111,155
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz.,  $110,500
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y.,  $109,750
Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla.,  $108,000
Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn.,  $100,415

Other freshmen receiving PAC money include:
Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev.,  $99,605
Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla., $94,000
Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash.,  $92,810
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, $92,750
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.,  $90,965
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.,  $90,000
Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H.,  $89,368
Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif.,  $88,200
Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y.,  $87,924
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif.,  $87,355
Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind.,  $84,700
Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill.,  $84,500
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M.,  $79,600
Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Pa.,  $77,728
Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla.,  $73,625
Rep. Juan C. Vargas, D-Calif.,  $70,605
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.,  $70,100
Rep. John Delaney, D-Md.,  $69,500
Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif.,  $67,855
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, $66,500
Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C.,  $65,412
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis.,  $64,750
Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla.,  $64,708
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.,  $63,105
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga.,  $59,000
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, $59,000
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.,  $57,500
Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, $57,105
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.,  $56,705
Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind.,  $56,000
Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif.,  $55,250
Rep. Susan W. Brooks, R-Ind.,  $53,300
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.,  $51,750
Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont.,  $50,328

*Although technically freshmen, Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., are not new to Washington, D.C., and came from serving in the House of Representatives. They are not included in the above listing.