Romney leads 2nd quarter fundraising with $18.25 million

Most of the second quarter fundraising totals are out and the big winner this time around was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Romney totaled $18.25 million in the last 3 months. His closest competitor, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, raised a mere $4.5 million.

Report from the Washington Post:

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.

We have not seen numbers from Michele Bachmann, she won’t release until July 15th. However, none of the other hopefuls even come close to this number, let alone double-digits:

Romney’s fundraising dwarfs that of his Republican opponents. Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) raised $4.5 million between April 1 and June 30, while former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty collected $4.2 million.

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who entered the race just days before the end-of-June deadline, brought in $4.1 million — a total that included a major personal donation (although his campaign said it was less than half of what he raised.) Businessman Herman Cain brought in $2.5 million in the quarter, while former House speaker Newt Gingrich raised $2 million but is deep in debt, according to Politico.

The only other major candidate who has not reported fundraising totals is Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.).

We’ll update if Bachmann comes in with a remarkable number either way. My bet is she might take the 2nd place title away from Ron Paul but the question will be by how much.