There are a lot of political operations out there gearing up for this special election, and that includes the two major political parties in the state... which have each raised about $6 million through the first 8 months of the year.

But new campaign finance reports seem to indicate that going into the fall season, Democrats were sitting on a lot more cash than were Republicans.

California's Democrats raised almost $6.3 million in January-August period, and reported having a whopping $6.1 million in cash sitting in the bank. Golden State Republicans raised almost as much in the same period-- $6.1 million-- but only had $752,000 left in their coffers at the end of August.

Some other items of note in those finance reports...

* Mortgage lender Ameriquest may be a big supporter of Governor Schwarzenegger, but the company is also making nice with Democrats. Ameriquest has given Dems more than $427,000 this year, while Dawn Arnall-- wife of Ameriquest owner (and new US Ambassador to the Netherlands) Roland Arnall-- has written checks worth $250,000 to Team Arnold. Incidentally, that big chunk of change might explain why Ameriquest has only given the state GOP $55,000.

* Hollywood movie producer Stephen Bing has contributed $200,000 to the Democrats, half of which was $100,000 worth of stocks.

* The California GOP has written some IOUs to help fund its activities this year, including a $75,000 loan from the campaign of Senate GOP Leader Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton) and a $300,000 loan from Central Valley businessman Alex Spanos.