Easily moving to the front of the GOP pack, Mitt Romney raised $18.25 million over the last quarter for his presidential campaign.
While Romney, whose team now has $12.6 million cash left on hand, is in a strong position, the latest numbers were somewhat below expectations. At this point in 2007, Romney had collected $23 million despite being less established as a top tier candidate. But he’s essentially competing against himself at this point: none of his rivals are expected to even crack the $10 million barrier.
Romney is further boosted by an independent Super PAC loyal to his campaign, Restore Our Future, which can collect unlimited corporate donations and raised $12 million this quarter. The combined $30 million is more than seven times the size of rival Tim Pawlenty’s $4.2 million and Jon Huntsman’s $4.1 million, which included a large donation from the candidate himself. Romney’s top Tea Party rival, Michele Bachmann, has yet to report her fundraising numbers.
Benjy Sarlin
Benjy Sarlin is a reporter for Talking Points Memo and co-writes the campaign blog, TPM2012. He previously reported for The Daily Beast/Newsweek as their Washington Correspondent and covered local politics for the New York Sun.
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