Romney has more cash in hand than Democrats

Published on 07/08/2012 00:00

Presidential challenger Mitt Romney raised $101 million (£64m) in July to fund the fight for the November election, the Republican National Committee said yesterday.

That sum means the Republican challenger has raised more than United States president Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee for a third straight month, with the president and the Democrats bringing in $75m.

Mr Obama, famous for his fundraising success in the 2008 election, faces well-funded, Republican-leaning political action committees that can spend unlimited amounts in backing candidates or political causes.

This is the first presidential election where the groups were empowered for such free spending. The flood of money began after the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions are protected by the same free speech rights as individuals and that spending on political and other issues constitutes free speech. This is expected to be the most expensive presidential campaign in US history.

Mr Romney’s campaign said the former Massachusetts governor, the Republican National Committee and state Republican parties had nearly $186m in cash.

Mr Romney was taking a day off the campaign trail yesterday, attending meetings at his holiday home in New Hampshire.

Huge sums are being spent by both campaigns on television advertising in so-called swing states – ones that do not reliably vote for the candidate of either party. Given that the election is decided state by state and not by national popular vote, the swing states are critical.

Mr Obama has held an advertising advantage so far because Mr Romney’s funds, while substantial, were whittled away by his campaign spending in defeating challengers in the Republican primary campaign.