Romney to Raise Less Money in Second Quarter

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who led all Republicans in money raised during the first three months of the presidential race with $21 million, told top fundraisers Friday his campaign would bring in less in the second quarter and that he continues to loan money from his personal fortune to ensure more voters hear his message.

"This tells only part of the story given this cycle's unprecedented nature, and the competing needs of less well-known candidates, such as Governor Romney, for both fundraising dollars and political exposure," said the memo to fundraisers from senior campaign adviser Alex Castellanos and top lawyers Benjamin Ginsberg and Katie Biber Chen.

"Our total will reflect the campaign's strategic decision to include more political travel days in this quarter than in the first," they explained, noting Romney spent a total of 20 days in the early primary states of New Hampshire and Iowa between April and June, double the time he spent their in the first three months of 2007.

Campaign officials also said Romney -- whose net worth is in the hundreds of millions -- made another seven-figure loan to his campaign this quarter, on top of the $2.4 million he gave to jump-start his campaign at the end of last year.

"Governor Romney is committed to ensuring that the campaign continues to expand and that he can spread his message," the senior advisers' memo said. "Governor Romney is matching the level of commitment exhibited by supporters and contributors who are providing the campaign with the resources it needs to win in this very new type of campaign.

Though the fundraising quarter ends at midnight tomorrow, Romney's team isn't expect to release an actual tally of his second-quarter haul -- expected to fall between $13 million and $20 million -- until the middle or end of next week.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who finished second to Romney on the GOP side last quarter, had another strong fundraising quarter and could release his tally early next week. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is trying to best the $13 million he raised in the first quarter and expects to fall between $10 million and $15 million, fundraisers said.

But the top Republicans are all likely to be dwarfed by the top two finishers on the Democratic side.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign expects to raise $27 to $28 million in the second quarter, though some of that is general election donations that can't be spent in the primary. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, whose campaign announced it already has collected money from 250,000 different supporters this year, is poised to keep pace or slightly exceed that with $25 million to $30 million, mostly in primary money.

Sen. John Edwards has been aiming to raise $9 million in the second quarter.