Romney campaign boasts $11.5-million fundraising haul in February

Mitt Romney raised $11.5 million in February, his campaign announced today, edging out a strong fundraising month from his fiercest rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Rick Santorum.

The haul makes February the second-most-lucrative fundraising month for the former Massachusetts governor, after December. The campaign did not release any details on its spending last month or how much cash it had on hand at the end of the month.

The latter is a key figure in evaluating Romney’s financial standing as the GOP nominating contests plod on. In January, the campaign shelled out more than $18 million but brought in only $6.4 million in contributions. Since then, the Romney camp has spent at least $2.7 million on television ads, according to sources familiar with the ad buys.

Romney has so far outpaced his GOP rivals in the money race, but Santorum’s February was nearly as fruitful. His campaign announced last week that the former Pennsylvania senator brought in $9 million, relying on more than 100,000 donors online.

In recent weeks, the Romney camp has ramped up its own online appeals for funds in an attempt to broaden the donor base. In his fundraising through January, 40% of Romney’s donors had given the legal maximum of $2,500 and just 9% of his money came from donors giving $200 or less, according to an analysis by the Campaign Finance Institute.

By contrast, Santorum and Newt Gingrich, as well as President Obama, brought in nearly half their money from small donors.

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