Americas

Americas

Romney outbids Obama in fundraising in May

07 June 2012 22:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Monthly campaign figures show US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney attracted more funds than President Barack Obama last month, outpacing the incumbent for the first time in the race for the White House, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The figures released on Thursday showed that Romneyâ€™s campaign and the Republican Party raised a combined sum of USD 76.8 million in May, nearly doubling their April effort, and outperforming Obamaâ€™s campaign and the Democratic Party.

Romney and the GOP had brought in USD 40 million in April. The combined pro-Romney groups -- Romney for President, Romney Victory National Finance, and the Republican National Committee -- also announced that they have USD 107 million cash on hand.

Obama and the Democratic Party raised a combined sum of USD 60 million in May -- USD 16.4 million more than the funds received in April -- bringing their total so far to about USD 450 million for the November 6 election.

"We are encouraged by the financial support from a broad range of voters," said Romneyâ€™s finance chairman Spencer Swick, adding, "It is clear that people aren’t willing to buy into ’hope and change’ again. Voters are making an investment because they believe that it will benefit the country."

Analysts said the fact that Romney outraised Obama suggests the fundraising campaign will be fiercely competitive over the coming months ahead of the November 6 polls.

Polls predict a tight race as many have put Obama just a few percentage points ahead of his challenger, often within the margin of error.

In the US, a president is not elected directly by the people, but by the Electoral College. This means a candidate may be elected, despite losing the popular vote.