US President Barack Obama has raised a staggering 86 million dollars for the 2012 election in the latest three-month period, easily outpacing the combined total of the Republican field, his campaign said Wednesday, DPA reported.
Of the 86 million dollars collected through June 30, 47 million dollars will go to Obama's campaign and 38 million dollars will be directed to the Democratic Party's coffers, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a video to supporters posted online.
Mussina said 98 per cent of the donations were less than 250 dollars, showing that the campaign's grassroots effort was alive and well.
"Our supporters are back, they're energized, there's a new generation of supporters who have joined this organization," he said.
Obama was able to raise the money despite worries about the state of the economy and high unemployment. The average donation was 69 dollars, Mussina said.
The total amount is more than double the combined fundraising by the leading Republican candidates seeking the conservative party's nomination to oust Obama in November 2012 elections. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the nomination, raised 18.3 million dollars during the same period, Bloomberg News reported.
Congressman Ron Paul, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman have raised a combined 12.8 million dollars. Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann has yet to disclose the results of her fundraising for the April-June period.
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