Mitt Romney's campaign raised more than $14 million in the third quarter, signalling that the Republican US presidential hopeful's fund-raising remains robust despite big swings in opinion polls.
His fundraising performance was second only to Texas Governor Rick Perry, who hauled in $17 million in the same June to September period, and builds strong war chests for both men as they head into the campaign battles in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The Republican race to take on President Barack Obama in 2012 has had wild swings, though Romney has stayed near the top throughout. Romney has raised more - without dipping into his own pockets as he did four years ago - than he did in his previous White House bid.
Perry's entry caused a splash before a series of missteps, while pizza executive Herman Cain is now leading some polls among the candidates seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and co-founder of Bain Capital, has taken on the mantle of front-runner in many ways in recent weeks, solidifying support from a broad array of the Republican establishment and big time donors but he has yet to excite the Republican party's conservative base.
"Money is critical partly because it helps send voters a signal about which candidates are viable," said Costas Panagopoulos, director of a politics center at Fordham University. "One of the things that put Obama on the map in 2008 was his ability to raise formidable sums of money." Romney's campaign Friday also said it had $14 million in cash on hand, with 83 percent from donations of $250 or less.
Expectations had been that Romney and most other candidates in the 2012 election would pull in less cash in the third quarter than in the three months ended in June, when Romney took in $18 million. The July through September fund-raising period is typically weak, largely due to the summer vacation season.
At this point in the 2007 Republican contest, Romney reported $18 million - but he wrote himself a $8.5 million check to help out. At the time, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was leading in some polls, raised about $10 million. Romney, who dropped out in early 2007 after disappointing primary showings, spent $35 million of his own funds in that bid. He has lent his campaign no funds so far for 2012. The campaigns are releasing selective figures this week. Full reports are due to US regulators by October 15.
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