Jul 10, 2008 1:00 pm US/Eastern
McCain Raises $22M In June, Making For Best Month
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
Republican John McCain raised more than $22 million in June for his presidential bid, his best fundraising performance of the year, and he ended the month with nearly $27 million cash on hand, the campaign announced Thursday.
McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said McCain and the national Republican Party together entered July with about $95 million in the bank. The Republican National Committee, which has been raising money jointly with McCain, collected nearly $26 million in June and had nearly $69 million on hand, officials said.
The campaign's fundraising has given McCain the ability to outspend Democratic rival Barack Obama on television advertising in key battleground states. Davis said about half of its income had been spent on television advertising.
Obama has not revealed his June fundraising.
The RNC can spend up to $19 million in coordination with the McCain campaign. But it can also spend unlimited amounts on his behalf as long as the campaigns don't discuss those efforts.
Davis said McCain and the RNC expect to raise a combined $95 million by the end of August. After that, McCain will stop fundraising and accept about $84 million in public funds. The RNC, however, would be able to continue fundraising and spending money to help McCain's presidential run.
McCain has been airing ads on national cable networks and in Colorado, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Iowa. Obama has been airing ads in more states, but spending less.
Davis said he expected Obama to begin ramping up his advertising expenditures.
Obama has broken records in fundraising. He had raised $287 million by the end of May, but had only $33 million cash on hand to spend between now and the end of August.
McCain had nearly $32 million in the bank at the start of June. Davis said the lower cash-on-hand figure at the end of June reflected the campaign's additional ad spending.
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