Obama raised $90.5 million in first half of October, trailing Romney

This post has been updated. Please see note below for details.

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s campaign and affiliated party committees raised $90.5 million in the first 17 days of October, a haul surpassed by the $111.8 million that Republican challenger Mitt Romney and his party allies brought in during the same period.

Obama’s fundraising total, which the campaign announced in a tweet Thursday night, was on pace with the $181 million he raised in September, a month in which he outstripped Romney by $11 million. But Romney surged ahead in the money race as he entered October, powered by a strong performance in the first presidential debate Oct. 3.

Despite Romney’s advantage in the most recent fundraising period, both candidates are expected to have sufficient resources to execute their final-stretch strategies.

As of Oct. 17, the Romney campaign and affiliated national and party committees had $169 million on hand, down from $191 million on Sept. 30.

The Obama campaign has not yet released its cash-on-hand figures, but the reelection committee and party allies together had $150 million left in the bank on Sept. 30.

While Romney entered October with a cash advantage, Obama had held more of his money in his campaign committee, giving him more flexibility in how to spend it.

With the latest fundraising reports, Obama’s reelection effort officially crossed the billion-dollar threshold. Altogether, his campaign and affiliated committees have pulled in a record $1.037 billion, according to FEC data compiled by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute. Romney is close behind, with a total haul of $950.7 million.

[Updated at 8:34 p.m., Oct. 25: Obama’s reelection committee and party allies had almost $125 million left, down from $150 million. The president raised $54.4 million directly into his campaign in the first half of October, to Romney’s $38 million.

As of Oct. 17, Obama had $93.6 million in the bank, while his GOP rival had $52.7 million. Still, the Obama campaign stressed its need for more financial firepower.

“As the Romney campaign and their ‘super PAC’ allies continue to outspend us on the air, we’re making every effort to expand our donor base heading into the final stretch,” campaign spokesman Adam Fetcher said in a statement.]

matea.gold@latimes.com

twitter: @mateagold