Campaign spending questions have been raised for years about Jackson. In 2007 and 2008, Jackson’s campaign spent more than $22,000 on nine trips to Ozio, a restaurant on M Street in downtown Washington, where his alleged mistress — a former swimsuit model — worked.

Jackson’s current campaign is a baffling abstraction, but he’s expected to win easily against a Republican challenger in his heavily Democratic district. His wife and campaign spokesman say he is on the ballot and plans to serve if elected. But no events are scheduled, and Jackson’s campaign spokesman, Kevin Lampe, declined to say whether any advertisements or mailers have been purchased.

Speculation that Jackson might drop out of the race, before or after the election, is rampant, stoked in part by his decision to put his home in the Dupont Circle area up for sale. Sandi Jackson has said the sale was prompted because of a need to pay for her husband’s medical expenses. The home was taken off the market after a flurry of reports about the sale, but Lampe says it’s still available as “a private listing.”