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BATON ROUGE (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney visited Louisiana Monday to help raise money for Republican congressional candidates, including state Sen. Bill Cassidy, who's challenging an incumbent Democrat in a race marked by a recent surge in fundraising and attack advertising.

Cheney first attended a $1,000-per-person fundraiser in New Orleans' French Quarter for U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a freshman who faces Democrat Jim Harlan in the Nov. 4 election for the 1st Congressional District seat. Scalise, R-Jefferson, represents a conservative, suburban New Orleans district that has a long history of electing Republicans, including sending now-Gov. Bobby Jindal twice to Congress.

Cheney then went to a $500-per-person Baton Rouge gathering for Cassidy, who is seeking to retake for the Republicans the 6th District, where a Democrat — U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux of New Roads — this year won a seat that had been held by the GOP for decades.

Both events were closed to the media, a decision made by the Cassidy and Scalise campaigns, according to Cheney's press office.

Jason Hebert, spokesman for the Scalise campaign, said the fundraiser was "very successful," but did not know how much money was raised altogether. He said over 100 people attended.

The state Democratic Party and the Cazayoux campaign criticized the Cheney trip as a waste of taxpayer money. The state party cited a 2006 General Accounting Office report that found Cheney had — in the 2002 campaign year — taken at least 37 trips campaigning for candidates, producing travel costs of $1.8 million. Minus reimbursements from congressional and other campaigns, taxpayer money covered nearly all the costs of those trips: $1.7 million, the report said.

Chris Ingram, Cassidy's campaign manager, did not return a call to comment.

The state Democrats estimated the Cheney trip would cost taxpayers $500,000 — a claim denied by Cheney's press office. Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said taxpayers do not foot the bill for such trips anymore. She said the Cassidy and Scalise campaigns split the tab for Cheney's expenses.

"All the costs related to (Cheney's) political activity are not paid for by taxpayers," she said.

Cazayoux spokesman Lewis Lowe said he wasn't concerned that Cassidy would get a boost among conservative voters by associating with Cheney.

"If he is concerned about his conservative base, then that doesn't speak too well for his campaign," Lowe said.

Cassidy, Cazayoux and independent Michael Jackson meet in the Nov. 4 election for the 6th Congressional District. Jackson, a former Democrat, has run a quiet campaign and has not filed a federal campaign finance report in over a month.

Cassidy's most recent finance reports show he'd been busy raising cash before the Cheney visit.

On Oct. 1, the Republican raised just over $119,000, according to his most recent report. Most of that money came from individuals in Louisiana, though not all: he got $3,000 from a political action committee representing oil giant ConocoPhillips, $5,000 from the Republican National Committee, $2,500 from the National Restaurant Association, $1,000 from the Tampa, Fla.-based House Conservatives Fund and $1,000 from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, according to the Federal Election Commission report.

Cazayoux has also been raising money quickly: in a two-day span, Sept. 29-30, his campaign got $96,200 in contributions. Cazayoux has raised tens of thousands from individuals, but most of his money lately has come from interest groups, his finance reports show.

Cazayoux's most recent report shows $5,000 from the American Optometric Association, $2,000 from a branch of the labor union AFL-CIO, $5,000 from the American Sugar Cane League, and $1,000 each from political action committees representing drug maker Merck & Co. and the Altria Group, Inc., the parent company of cigarette maker Philip Morris.