Obama, Clinton roll up big fund-raising lead

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton ended the first half of the year with more than $30 million each for the presidential primaries, a formidable financial performance for the two leading Democratic White House contenders.

Obama reported having about $34 million in primary cash on hand; Clinton reported $33 million.

Obama led in fund raising for the period covering April though June, raising nearly $32 million for the primary election and about $1 million for the general election, according to reports filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission.

Clinton raised about $21.5 million for the primary and $5.6 million for the general election, her campaign said.

Neither candidate can use the general election money unless he or she wins the nomination.

John Edwards, the Democrat closest to the two fund-raising leaders, reported having $12 million in the bank for the primary.

Obama, the freshman senator from Illinois, has mounted an aggressive fund-raising campaign that has netted him more than 250,000 donors for the year. Overall, he has raised nearly $59 million, with all but about $2 million devoted to the primary election.

New York Sen. Clinton has raised $53 million, with $12.6 million of that usable only in the general election. Clinton boosted her revenue in the first quarter by transferring $10 million into her campaign from her Senate election account.

Obama reported $922,000 of debt at the end of the quarter and $16 million in spending for the quarter.

The Clinton campaign said it had spent $12.5 million. Its report had not been filed yet, so the campaign's debt, if any, could not be determined.

The campaigns had until midnight Sunday to file full financial reports to the Federal Election Commission.

Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina and 2004 vice presidential nominee, raised about $8.8 million for the primary from April through June; he also raised $250,000 for the general election, money he can't use unless he becomes the Democratic nominee.

Overall, Edwards has raised $21.8 million for the primary and $1.3 million for the general election. While trailing Obama and Clinton, Edwards retained his place ahead of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.