CAMPAIGN 2012

Obama Raises $45 Million in February

Romney outpacing the president in big donors.

Updated: March 19, 2012 | 8:46 a.m.
March 19, 2012 | 7:55 a.m.

President Obama on Thursday in Largo, Md. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Obama raised more than $45 million in February from 348,000 people, outpacing his Republican rivals and showing off the power of his small-donor network. However, Obama is bringing in fewer big-dollar donations than he did at this point four years ago—almost half, The Washington Post reports.

Obama's numbers soundly trumped his GOP rivals in February fundraising. Mitt Romney brought in about $11.5 million, whereas Rick Santorum and Ron Paul brought in roughly $9 million and $3.3 million, respectively. Newt Gingrich has not released his February totals yet.

The Obama campaign is also finding new ways to bring in small donors—105,000 of the February contributors gave to the organization for the first time, according to the campaign. Calling for $2 donations in emails to supporters, almost 98 percent of February's donations were $250 or less. The average donation, the campaign said, was $59.04.

Though the president is bringing in more money than his GOP counterparts, Romney has more donors giving $2,000 or more, the Post reports. This, in addition to the money brought in by a super PAC supporting Romney, could prove troublesome for the Obama camp moving forward.

But the Obama campaign is still touting the 1.64 million people who have given money to the president’s reelection efforts, and the steady gain among small donors.

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