Another invitation faux pas in the Senate race?

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The organizers of President Obama’s San Francisco fundraiser later this month for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) appear to be running into a few mishaps with their guest list.

First, Martin Wilson, campaign manager for Carly Fiorina, a Republican who hopes to unseat Boxer, received an invitation to the May 25 event featuring entree to a late afternoon cocktail reception at the Fairmont Hotel atop Nob Hill with a minimum contribution of $250. (Those willing to contribute $17,600 could go on to a dinner with Boxer and Obama at the home of Ann and Gordon Getty).

Then this week Fiorina received an e-mail solicitation from Boxer fundraiser Tammy Paster calling Boxer’s race the “fight of her life” and offering access to “a private clutch” at the event for supporters who raise $20,000.

The campaign of Fiorina, who is facing former Rep. Tom Campbell and Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the Republican primary, tweeted her regrets Wednesday: “Sadly we have to decline.”

The Boxer campaign said that the solicitation went to thousands of people and that it was possible Fiorina and Wilson were inadvertently included. DeVore’s spokesman, however, wants to know how Fiorina made it onto Boxer’s list.

Wilson’s e-mail invitation included a link to event details posted by the Bay Area Democrats on ActBlue.com that offered a breakdown of possible contributions to the cause. According to the website, the first $4,800 of each person’s contribution would go to Friends of Barbara Boxer (split evenly between her primary and general election campaigns).

Beyond that, up to $30,400 would go to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and if the supporter still had more to give, an additional $10,000 would go to the account of the Democratic State Central Committee of California for federal races, according to the ActBlue website.

But for those Obama or Boxer fans feeling the economy’s pinch, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launched a sweepstakes Wednesday to bring attention to the Boxer race, advertising a chance to meet Obama and Boxer on that Bay Area trip as the grand prize. The winner gets two admission tickets to the Boxer-Obama fundraiser, two round-trip coach flights to San Francisco and a hotel room valued at $200. The committee’s rules say it plans to choose a winner through a random drawing May 18.

-- Maeve Reston in Los Angeles