WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama spent more on his re-election effort last month than he raised, ending May with $109.7 million cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission reports filed Wednesday.
The $39.1 million his campaign took in was outpaced by $44.6 million it paid for television advertisements, employees, offices and other expenses, the reports show. The spending rate is a reversal from the past three months, when the campaign was taking in millions of dollars more than it was spending.
Republican challenger Mitt Romney reported raising $23.4 million last month, taking his total to almost $124 million, less than half of Obama’s $261million haul. Romney had $17 million in the bank, one-sixth of the incumbent’s total.
The money is just part of the cash being poured into the campaign. Both candidates are raising funds jointly with national and state political parties, allowing donors to give larger contributions. In addition, nonprofit groups and super political action committees can take in unlimited corporate, union and individual donations.
Obama’s political advisers told reporters Wednesday that they expect Romney to wind up with a money advantage asthe outside groups supporting the presumptive Republican presidential nominee spend as much as $1 billion. The advisers, who asked for anonymity to discuss tactics, said they’re braced for a close election and are counting on their political organization to turn out voters in critical states.
Obama’s comments May 9 that gay couples should be able to marry may have boosted his fundraising, the FEC reports suggest. He raised more than six times as much money on the day of his announcement as he did the day before, $1.8 million compared with $282,404.
On May 9, his campaign started an e-mail fundraising blitz tied to gay marriage. The money bump continued the next day, with the campaign raking in another $1.6 million.
In another sign the campaign is intensifying, the $44.6 million that Obama’s re-election campaign spent in May was more than the $42.9 million he spent in the previous three months combined.
Together with his generalelection partners, the Democratic National Committee and other groups, Obama’s May fundraising figure rises to $60 million, his campaign previously said.
Romney’s campaign has said he and related groups such as the Republican National Committee and state parties raised $76.8 million last month. The former Massachusetts governor spent $15.6 million, less than he took in during May.
Information for this article was contributed by Brendan Coffey, Greg Giroux, Hans Nichols and Margaret Talev of Bloomberg News.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 06/21/2012