Last week, I was sort of surprised when the Obama Administration announced a series of transportation grants, less than two weeks before the elections.  Yesterday, even more money was rolled out for high speed rail.

Now, maybe grant money gets doled out right before elections all the time, and probably it's happened before.  But these announcements really made me sort of sit up and take another look, especially when Democrats aren't doing so well in the campaign.

It had the same impact over at the Associated Press, where reporter Kevin Freking wrote about the high-speed rail money, "The timing of the announcement raised questions about whether the administration was trying to help some Democratic candidates."

No, I have no evidence of that from my reporting.  But, my gut tells me the timing is, shall we say, interesting.

One key Republican staffer who deals with Transportation issues on Capitol Hill had the same assessment last night, saying it's a "reasonable question," adding it would be interesting to see a thorough analysis on where the money is going.

The high speed rail money will be formally awarded on Thursday, as California will get another $902 million to help with a rail line from San Francisco to Los Angeles.  

Florida gets $800 million more for a line between Tampa and Orlando.

"Fantastic news for Florida," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).  "Now we are full speed ahead with high-speed rail construction."

Florida has some big election races, like one for Governor going on right now.

"This is a great announcement for California that will create jobs at a time that we really need them," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who is locked in a very tight re-election race of her own.

Last week, Boxer had praised $59 million in funding from the Transportation Department's "TIGER2" grants that are used for transportation projects.

"These critical investments in California's transportation system will speed up the creation of thousands of private sector jobs all across our state," Boxer said.

Back East, there's also $2.24 million for planning on high speed rail between New Hampshire and Boston.

"HODES SECURES MILLIONS FOR CAPITOL CORRIDOR RAIL PROJECT," bellowed the headline on the web site of Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH).  
That would be the same Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) who finds himself behind in the race for Senate in New Hampshire.

"The Capitol Corridor Rail Project will create good-paying green jobs right now," said Hodes in a written statement.

Money is also going to Iowa, to help with an Amtrak route between Chicago and Iowa City.

"Today's announcement is great news for Iowa," said Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA), who said it would create 588 jobs and increase business activity by $25 million per year.

"This is one more step to create jobs in the short term and put Iowa's economy back on track," Braley said in a written statement on his web site.

While Braley has been targeted by Republicans, he seems likely to survive this election year.  But it can't hurt to have a story like that to talk about on the stump with seven days left either, eh?

Sending out the good news to Democratic lawmakers was Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Republican member of the House from Illinois, who joined the Obama Administration after his colleague's election.

Like I said above, I'm sure this isn't the first time the feds have handed out money right before an election.

But it made my Spidey News Senses tingle a little bit.

Here is the list of the capital grants that were awards TIGER grants last week by the Department of Transportation:

Atlanta, GA Streetcar - $47.67 million
Tower 55, Fort Worth, TX - $34 million
South Park Bridge, Seattle, WA - $34 million
South Salt Lake City Streetcar - $26 million
Port of Miami Rail Access, FL - $22.76 million
Bridge replacement, NH/ME - $20 million
LAX Light Rail, CA - $20 million
Route 10 Safety, WY - $17 million
Niagara Falls Rail Station, NY - $16.5 million
New Haven Downtown Crossing, CT - $16 million
Reconstruct MRC Railroad, SD - $16 million
Port of Los Angeles - $16 million
Dilworth Plaza improvements, PA - $15 million
Razorback Regional Greenway, AR - $15 million
Minot Grade Separation, ND - $14.1 million
Ann Arbor Bridges, MI - $13.9 million
Coos Bay Rail Line, OR - $13.57 million
NW Tennessee Port, TN - $13 million
Steel Point Roadway, CT- $11.15 million
Aroostook Rail Preservation, ME - $10.5 million
Port of Providence, RI - $10.5 million
Cedar Rapid Transit Stn, OH - $10.5 million
Great Plains Freight Rail, KS/OK - $10.2 million
East Bay Pedestrian & Bike, CA - $10.2 million
Meadowlands Signal System, NJ - $10.08 million
Fordham Transit Plaza, NY - $10 million
Central PA Rail & Road, PA - $10 million
Parramore BRT Orlando, FL - $10 million
Moline Multimodal Station, IL - $10 million
Peoria Warehouse District, IL - $10 million
Des Moines Multimodal Hub, IA - $10 million
San Bernardino Airport Access, CA - $10 million
West Vancouver Freight Access, WA - $10 million
Port Manatee Marine Highway, FL - $9 million
Staples North/South Corridor, MN - $7.6 million
Freight Rail Rehab, NE - $4.92 million
Woodside Boulevard, ID - $3.5 million
Electric Vehicle Corridor, OR - $2 million
Waterloo Station, IN - $1.82 million
Moscow Intermodal Transit, ID - $1.5 million
Peach County Streets, GA - $1.49 million
Franklin County Road Work, WA - $1.01 million

Also handed out were planning grants for a series of projects around the nation:

US-14 Underpass, Barrington, IL - $2.8 million
Newark Train Station, DE - $2.25 million
Oakland Army Base Master Plan, CA - $2 million
Canal Crossing, NJ - $1.94 million
Sheridan Expressway Corridor, NY - $1.51 million
Aloha-Reedville Livable Community, OR - $1.5 million
Bike/Ped Trail Design, NM - $1.47 million
Denver TOD Program, CO - $1.15 million
Grand Boulevard, CA - $1.09 million
Claiborne Corridor Plan, LA - $1.072
Madison Intermodal Terminal, WI - $950,000
Augusta Sustainable Development, GA - $908,307
Asheville Multi-Modal Neighborhood, NC - $850,000
Allegheny Green Blvd Planning, NC - $850,000
South Shore Commuter Rail, IN - $800,000
Linking Rural Regions, ME - $770,988
Downtown Dahlonega Streets, GA - $720,069
Ranson-Charles Town Corridor, WV - $708,500
Lexington Multi-Modal Plan, NC - $700,000
Owasco River Trail Plan, NY - $590,000
Broad Street Road Diet, SC - $456,000
Colorado Main Streets, CO - $395,600
Oklahoma City Transit, OK - $378,000
Livability in Pontiac, MI - $300,000
Bridge Boulevard Corridor, NM - $262,500
St. Paul Streets Plan, MN - $250,000
Greenville Jobs/Open Space, SC - $235,000
Parkview Gardens, MO - $150,000
St. Albans Streetscape, VT - $125,000
Hull Street Corridor, VA - $100,000
Highway 13 Study, MO - $90,000
Randolph County Plan, WV - $85,750
* Village Center Improvements, MO - $80,000

You can look through all the details on these projects at (pdf) http://is.gd/gj1ln and  (pdf) http://is.gd/gj1nG