Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee raised $35 million more than President Obama and his Democratic allies last month, winning their second month in a row.
The Romney camp announced Monday that the Republicans had raised $106.1 million in June and had $160 million cash on hand at the end of the month. Mr. Obama’s team, meanwhile, pulled in $71 million, marking his best fundraising month of the cycle so far — though the Democrat’s campaign has not indicated how much money they have in the bank.
Rick Wiley, the RNC’s political director, gave sneak peek of what was to come last week when he took a jab via Twitter at Jim Messina, President Obama’s campaign manager and David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s senior strategist.
“Check this out, bro, we raised north of $100 million in June. I’m assuming u & Axe will need beers 2night bro,” Mr. Wiley said.
Mr. Messina suggested last week they would not match their rivals, blasting out a fundraising email in which he warned that “it could cost us the election” if they fail to keep up a similar fundraising pace.
“If we don’t take this seriously now, we risk finding ourselves at a point where there is too much ground to make up,” Mr. Messina wrote, urging supporters to give $3 or more to Mr. Obama’s re-election effort.
The homepage of Mr. Obama’s campaign website also sounds the alarm on the Mr. Romney’s fundraising strength, declaring that “President Obama will be the first president in history to be outspent by his opponent.”
Mr. Romney saw nearly $5 million poor into his campaign coffers in 24 hours last month after the Supreme Court upheld Mr. Obama’s federal health care law.
The Romney camp and the RNC raised more campaign donations than Mr. Obama and the Democratic National Committee in May by a $77 million to $60 million margin. In April, the first month that the Romney team and the RNC joined forces, they raised $40.1 million, almost matching the $43.6 million raised by Mr. Obama and the DNC.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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