Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced today that his campaign has hauled in an impressive and surprising $17 million since entering the race on August 13. The donations come from 22,000 contributors spread across all 50 states, with a slim majority living outside of Texas, the campaign said. Of that haul, $15 million is still unspent, so Perry has a hefty campaign stash headed into the more heated part of the primary season.
Mitt Romney has yet to release his third-quarter campaign filings, but in the first quarter of his campaign, ending on June 30, he raised just over Perry's sum, taking in about $18.3 million. But then, Romney had all three months to raise funds.
[Read how Rick Perry could rebound.]
The third quarter runs from June 30 until September 30, so that campaign haul may reflect the excitement about Perry before he stumbled in the September 22 debate. Since then, Perry has lost a once-formidable lead in the GOP campaign, and in a recent Washington Post poll, he trailed Romney by 8 points—and tied with businessman Herman Cain for second place. So while rumors of his demise may have been greatly exaggerated, this latest campaign haul isn't necessarily a sign of a rebound. But it shows that the Perry campaign is in better shape than many thought.
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Rick Clay of WV 12:32PM October 06, 2011