Romney again leads the GOP money race, by using his own

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney used his own wealth to out-raise Rudolph W. Giuliani in the third quarter -- but the top Republicans continued to lag behind their Democratic counterparts in money raised.

Romney has poured more than $17 million of his own money into his campaign this year -- $8.5 million of that this quarter.

According to reports released Thursday, Romney brought in $10 million from others in the third quarter; Giuliani raised $11 million from others.

This year, former New York Mayor Giuliani, who is leading in public opinion polls, has raised more than $43 million from others; Romney has raised $44.6 million from others.

With loans and donations, Romney’s campaign has amassed $62 million, but has spent $53 million -- a record for any candidate in the year before a presidential election. Romney ended the quarter with a relatively modest $9 million in the bank, indicating he is heavily invested in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Giuliani disclosed Thursday that he had $16 million in the bank. Romney spokesman Kevin Madden noted that Giuliani largely skipped campaigning in Iowa, whereas Romney focused his efforts there.

Romney is by far the richest candidate in the race, with a net worth of as much as $250 million. He made his money as the head of a Boston-based private-equity company, Bain Capital. Romney used his personal wealth to fund his winning 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign.

Combined, the four top Republican candidates -- Giuliani, Romney, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, have raised $146 million this year.

The top four Democrats -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson -- have raised $207 million.

McCain, the onetime front-runner, disclosed that he had raised $6 million in the last three months and had $3.6 million in cash on hand. Altogether, he has raised $28 million this year.

McCain ended the quarter Sunday with $1.5 million in unpaid bills. He has dramatically pared back his monthly campaign spending from $4.5 million earlier in the year to $1.5 million a month, according to his spokesman, Brian Rogers.

Thompson, revising his earlier estimate, disclosed Thursday that he had raised $12.7 million this year and had $7 million in the bank. Thompson entered the race a month ago.

One candidate showed a dramatic gain in support in the third quarter when most other candidates saw a leveling-off or a decline: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). Paul disclosed that he raised $5 million in the third quarter, nearly twice what he had raised in the first six months of 2007.

Candidates must release full reports detailing their third-quarter fundraising and spending by Oct. 15.

--

dan.morain@latimes.com