Romney leads in GOP fundraising, spending

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney out-raised other Republican presidential hopefuls but also out-spent them, ending the first quarter with less cash in the bank than former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, campaign finance reports filed Friday show.

Romney, a wealthy former venture capitalist, raised almost $21 million in the first quarter of the year and lent himself an additional $2.35 million. Giuliani raised $14.7 million.

In any other election, the amounts raised by Romney and Giuliani would have been records for the first quarter of a preelection year. Their sums are particularly noteworthy given that neither candidate has mounted a national campaign before.

But money, always vital to a winning campaign, has become especially important in this race. Top-tier candidates are aiming to raise $100 million or more this year as they face the prospect of campaigning in the more than two dozen states that will or might hold primaries and caucuses by Feb. 5.

Seeking to raise his profile among voters, Romney spent $11.6 million in the first three months of the year, to Giuliani’s $5.7 million. Romney has been airing television ads in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Florida, all of which will hold early primaries and caucuses.

“One of the challenges we face is we’re not well-known,” Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said. “We are in the process of building a national infrastructure, and at the same time introducing Gov. Romney to voters for the first time.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a third major Republican candidate, is expected to file his first-quarter campaign report today. His campaign aides earlier said he raised $12.5 million, placing him third in the beginning months of the so-called money primary. Major Democratic candidates are expected to file their reports Sunday, the deadline to make them public.

As of March 31, Romney had $11.8 million in the bank to Giuliani’s $11.9 million. However, Madden noted that Romney raised money strictly for the primary, whereas $1.1 million of Giuliani’s money is earmarked for the general election. That money would be of no use to Giuliani in the early contests, because federal law bars candidates from spending money earmarked for the general election on primaries and caucuses.

Giuliani, who leads in polls, bolstered his account by shifting $1.85 million he had raised before the start of the year to his presidential bank account. Campaign chairman Pat Oxford said fundraising “hit a really good stride in March.”

Romney kicked off his campaign with a high-profile telethon-style fundraiser Jan. 8 in Boston. Some news reports, relying on campaign sources, placed the haul at $6.5 million. But his campaign finance report shows he raised just $3.1 million that day. Madden said donors made commitments at the time that pushed the total to $6.5 million.

An analysis of the reports shows that Romney’s spending included $1.8 million for broadcast ads -- unusual given that voting won’t begin until January.

Romney, who served one term as governor of Massachusetts, received $2.34 million in donations from the Bay State. A Mormon, he also relied heavily on Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is based. Utah was his second-largest donor state at $2.8 million. Giuliani raised $76,000 there.

California was golden for both candidates, becoming Romney’s largest donor state at $3.46 million and Giuliani’s second-largest at $2.5 million. New York was Giuliani’s largest source, at $3 million.

Federal law bars corporations from giving directly to federal candidates, but their employees may donate. Employees of Utah-based Marriott International accounted for Romney’s largest source of company money at $80,000, followed by employees of Romney’s former investment company, Bain Capital, at $79,000.

Giuliani’s largest corporate source of money was Elliott Management, a New York-based hedge fund. Investment firms such as Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers also were major donors. Giuliani’s law firm and an investment company that bears his name accounted for $72,000.

The former New York mayor raised the bulk of his money from Northeastern states, and drew heavily on Southern states, where he raised $3.5 million to Romney’s $3.3 million.

dan.morain@latimes.com

doug.smith@latimes.com

Times staff writer James Gerstenzang, researcher Maloy Moore and data analyst Sandra Poindexter contributed to this report.