Romney to go to London for expat cash, votes

GOP hopeful Mitt Romney will travel to London next month in order to raise big bucks from Americans living abroad, CBS News has learned.

The campaign has not released many details, but the Boston Globe obtained an invitation to the event, which will be hosted by the likes of a Deutsche Bank exec and the owner of the New York Jets at London's swanky Dartmouth House on July 6.

The event will be hosted, among others, by hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, Deutsche Bank managing director Raj Bhattacharyya, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, and Romney's former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey and her husband, Sean, according to the Globe.

"There is a lot of interest in this election among Americans living abroad who like everyone else are worried about what the weak economy and lack of jobs means for our status in the world," Romney advisor Eric Fehrnstrom told CBS News in a statement. "They want to know if we are going to lead the world economically or become something less. To a large degree, they support Mitt Romney because he is well known as someone who has the skills and capabilities to turn the economy around."

But it's not just the absentee votes Romney's looking for.

The suggested donation for the soiree is $2,500, according to the Globe, and could rake in as much as $875,000.

Romney will need to compete with the other Republican contenders in the field and, if he gets the nomination, to go up against the formidable fundraising prowess of President Barack Obama.