(Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his allies raised $111.8 million October 1-17, his campaign said on Thursday, a high-profile period that included two of the three televised presidential debates.
Romney’s strong performance in the first debate with President Barack Obama on October 3 notably ticked up donations, the campaign said. The two candidates have been locked in a dead-heat race since then.
As of the end of October 17 – just weeks before the November 6 election – Romney, the Republican National Committee and state parties had $169 million left in cash on hand, they said.
“There are less than two weeks left, but we still have much hard work to do to ensure that Mitt Romney and (running mate) Paul Ryan win in November and bring real change to Washington,” said Spencer Zwick, Romney’s national financial chairman.
The 2012 election is on track to being the most expensive race in U.S. history thanks to massive spending on advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts by the campaigns and unlimited-funding outside groups.
The Romney campaign said on Thursday that just under 92 percent of all donations to Romney and the Republican Party in the first half of October were $250 or less, and that the team had raised $38.2 million through donations under $250.
Romney has held a cash-on-hand advantage over Obama thanks to strong fundraising by the RNC, while Obama’s campaign on its own has dwarfed Romney’s in the money stakes in recent months.
With all parties put together, Obama and his Democratic allies in September raised $181 million, while Romney and RNC’s haul in September totaled $170.5 million. Obama’s campaign has not yet released its October haul.
Financial disclosures for the first half of October are due to the Federal Election Commission by campaigns and “Super PACs” by the end of Thursday.
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Xavier Briand)
