Mitt Romney takes in $18.25 million as he tops latest N.H. poll
Republican front-runner Mitt Romney announced his campaign had raised $18.25 million to be used win the Republican nomination, more than quadruple what his closest primary competitor raised in the three months through June.
The former Massachusetts governor's campaign said he had $12.6 million in the bank that can be used for the primary election. The campaign said it did not raise any money restricted to use in the general election, once a nominee is chosen.
The fundraising figures were released just hours after Romney took first place in the latest poll in New Hampshire, home of the first primary election.
(Above, CBSNews.com's Brian Montopoli discusses Romney's haul and that of the other candidates.)
In the latest WMUR Granite state poll, 35 percent of likely Republican primary voters said they would vote for Romney. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann followed with 12 percent of the vote in the poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul raised $4.5 million in the second quarter, followed by former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty who raised $4.2 million. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman took in $4.1 million in just a few weeks. Some of Huntsman's money is his own.
Former Godfather's pizza chief executive Herman Cain raised $2.5 million in the three month period, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who raised $2 million but said his campaign was more than $1 million in debt.
Bachmann, who finished a surprising second in a late June poll of likely Iowa caucus goers conducted by the Des Moines Register, has not yet announced her second quarter fundraising tally.
Romney's haul is still smaller than what he raised in the first quarter of 2007, when he took in $23.5 million. Asked about the relatively lackluster fundraising for all the GOP candidates compared to four years ago, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told MSNBC that there is still time for candidates to raise money.
"I don't think anyone believes that this is going to come down to a lack of funds in order to get the message out," Priebus said.