Reuters: Politics: Romney gets $12.6 million in March; fundraisers eye November

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Romney gets $12.6 million in March; fundraisers eye November Apr 20th 2012, 19:01 U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney speaks to supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina April 18, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Chris Keane By Steve Holland and Alina Selyukh SCOTTSDALE, Arizona/WASHINGTON | Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:01pm EDT SCOTTSDALE, Arizona/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney raised nearly $12.6 million in March, his best fund-raising month yet, even before the Republican front-runner and outside backing groups began to amass cash in earnest for the costly fight to unseat Democratic President Barack Obama. Romney had nearly $10.1 million in the bank, his campaign said on Friday, as he sought to wrap up the nomination and focus on raising money for the November 6 election. The $12.6 million came at a time when Romney was still facing stiff competition from his last big conservative challenger, Rick Santorum, who has since dropped out of the race. Since then, Romney has also begun raising money jointly with the Republican National Committee. The joint fund greatly increases how much a donor can give to help a candidate, thanks to larger contributions allowed for party organizations in addition to the campaign. Those figures have yet to be released. Both Republicans and Democrats are waging a war to raise as much money as possible to fund crucial television and radio air time and get-out-the-vote efforts. "Mitt Romney's continued strong fundraising shows that voters across the country are tired of the failures from President Obama," said Romney finance chairman Spencer Szwick. "We will continue the hard work to raise the necessary funds to defeat President Obama and change the direction of the country." Obama and the Democratic National Committee, spared the strenuous nominating process faced by Romney, raised $53 million in March for the general election campaign. SUPER PAC HELP But donations to outside Democratic groups have lagged those given to Republicans, a source of concern for Democrats. Campaigns can take only $2,500 during the primary process and another $2,500 for the general election. Super political action committees, or Super PACs, which have already made a big mark in this year's election cycle, can take unlimited donations as long as they do not coordinate with the campaigns. The pro-Obama Super PAC, Priorities USA Action, has struggled to catch up to the pro-Romney group Restore Our Future. Both groups were due to report their March fundraising numbers later on Friday, when Obama's and Romney's campaigns will also issue official reports to the Federal Election Commission. Helping Romney bridge the gap between his money power and Obama's is American Crossroads, perhaps the most formidable Republican Super PAC, which was co-founded by Karl Rove, former top aide and election strategist for President George W. Bush. American Crossroads and its non-profit sister group Crossroads GPS have made plans to spend up to $300 million on this election cycle and by the end of March were two-thirds of the way to raising that sum, having hauled in $99.8 million over 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. American Crossroads had $24.4 million left in cash on hand, a spokesman said, and its donors were due to be disclosed to the FEC on Friday. The non-profit Crossroads GPS is not legally required to report its fundraising or donors to the FEC. The groups have been running ads slamming Obama, his policies and his party's congressional candidates. The $300 million plan covers the efforts launched last year into the rest of the cycle, with two-thirds focusing on the presidential race and the rest on Senate and House of Representatives races. One of Romney's two rivals left in the Republican race is Texas Representative Ron Paul. His campaign's FEC filing on Friday showed he raised $2.6 million and had $1.8 million left in cash on hand at the end of March. The filings on Friday are also expected to shine some light on the debts run up by Rick Santorum leading up to his campaign exit last week, and by Newt Gingrich, who has vowed to stick around until Romney's official nomination this summer despite his presidential campaign being in the red for weeks. The Republican party also had its best month in March, raising $13.7 million and cutting back its debt to $9.9 million. The DNC has not yet disclosed its numbers. Both are due to officially report to the FEC on Friday. (Additional reporting by Alexander Cohen; Editing by Eric Walsh) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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