Thousands of dollars continue to flow into South Florida's three hard-fought congressional races, underscoring the competitive nature of the contests just a week before the election.

As of Tuesday night, the three Miami Republican incumbents facing their first serious reelection challenges were outpacing their Democratic rivals in campaign contributions greater than $1,000 made after Oct. 15.

In the past two weeks, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart pulled in $125,800 in big-dollar contributions, compared with $121,750 for challenger Joe Garcia, former chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart raised $68,300 in the same period, to former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez's $34,200. And Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen raised $66,200 to businesswoman Annette Taddeo's $62,800.

The campaigns are required, starting 20 days before the election, to disclose contributions of $1,000 or more within 48 hours of receiving them.

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National Democrats dispatched another bigwig to South Florida Tuesday to bolster their case for unseating the three incumbents, and the National Republican Congressional Committee, which has run attack ads against Martinez, unveiled its first TV ad targeting Garcia.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who chairs the committee charged with expanding the party's majority in the House, toured early-voting sites with Garcia and Martinez and raised money for Taddeo at a breakfast fundraiser.

''Florida has become a huge battleground for us,'' said Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has spent $1.1 million against the Diaz-Balarts and plans an $80,000 expenditure against Ros-Lehtinen.

Democrats have more seats in play in Florida than almost any other state, Van Hollen said. In addition to the three Miami seats, the party is targeting Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo; Rep. Ric Keller, R-Orlando, and Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota.

''Florida sensed early a desire to turn the page,'' Van Hollen said. ``The incumbents have been marching in lockstep with George Bush and people are fed up with eight years of a Bush administration.''

A `MIXED BAG'

A spokesman for his counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee, acknowledged Florida has been a ``mixed bag for Republicans this year.''

But Ken Spain said Van Hollen's recruitment of Martinez and Garcia, whom he described as a ``criminal and a special-interest mouthpiece, has provided voters in the Miami area with a clear choice in both elections.

''Throw in Tim Mahoney, and Democrats certainly have their share of fatally flawed and morally bankrupt candidates,'' Spain said, referring to Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Palm Beach Gardens Democrat who allegedly paid an ex-mistress hush money.

Many of the big-ticket contributions are from political action committees with interests in Congress:

Mario Diaz-Balart's contributions include $5,000 from the U.S. Cuba Democracy political action committee and $2,000 from the Dade County Firefighters PAC. Garcia's contributions include $1,300 from Miami fundraiser Chris Korge and $5,000 from Hillary Clinton's PAC.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart's include $3,000 from Exxon-Mobil's PAC and $5,000 from the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Martinez's contributions include $5,000 from the Congressional Black Caucus and $1,000 from the Treasury Employees PAC.

Ros-Lehtinen's contributions include $5,000 from the Republican Jewish Coalition and $1,000 from the Ocean Champions PAC.

And Taddeo got $5,000 from the American Federation of Teachers and $1,000 from the Feminist Majority.

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