Romney Raises $18.25 Million in Second Quarter

Mitt Romney is far and away the GOP's fundraising leader, which is always a sign of a campaign's momentum. At Washington Post, "Mitt Romney raises $18.25 million" (via Memeorandum):

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney raised $18.25 million over the past three months, a sum likely to put him head and shoulders above his rivals for the 2012 Republican nomination in the dash for cash.

“Voters are responding to Mitt Romney’s message that President Obama’s policies have failed and that we need new leadership in Washington,” Romney national finance chairman Spencer Zwick said. “Our fundraising for the second quarter represents the strong support Mitt Romney has across the country.”

All of the money Romney raised is for the primary race; he ended June with $12.6 million in the bank. Romney raised more than half of his total for the entire quarter during a single call day in Las Vegas in May.

Romney’s total is short of the $23.5 million he raised in the first quarter of 2007 — a sum seeded by roughly $2.5 million of his own money. He did not make any personal contributions during this reporting period, although he has not ruled out doing so during the campaign. In the 2008 race, Romney donated $44.5 million of his own money to the effort.

The Romney fundraising numbers come even as a new WMUR-TV Granite State poll in New Hampshire (see below) shows him as a clear frontrunner in the state’s primary.