Romney Catching Up in Fundraising

Michael Shear reports at The New York Times:

Mitt Romney almost matched President Obama in fund-raising during April after securing his party’s presidential nomination and joining forces with theRepublican National Committee, the campaign will announce on Thursday.

Mr. Romney and the R.N.C. raised $40.1 million in April, just shy of the $43.6 million that Mr. Obama and the Democratic National Committee raised for the month.

The contributions on behalf of Mr. Romney represent a huge jump over the $12.6 million that his campaign raised in March. The increase was made possible by donors coalescing around Mr. Romney as the nominee and the larger donations that can be directed to the party, campaign officials said.

“Voters are tired of President Obama’s broken promises,” said Reince Priebus, the chairman of the R.N.C. in a statement. “Mitt Romney has the record and plan to turn our country around – that is why he is receiving such enthusiastic support from voters across the country.”

Aides to Mr. Romney noted that the total might have been even higher if the joint fund-raising effort — known as the “Victory” campaign — had begun sooner. The campaign and the R.N.C. announced they were joining forces on April 4 but did not hold the first combined event until April 14, nearly halfway through the month