Obama Campaign Sets 2012 Monthly Fundraising Record

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $181 million in September, setting a new monthly fundraising record for the 2012 presidential campaign.

Only two months after President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign fretted that it would be outmatched in fundraising by Republican challenger Mitt Romney, on Saturday the DNC announced it easily eclipsed the $114 million it raised in August. The campaign’s September haul falls just shy of the all-time $193 million record set by Obama in September 2008.

“1,825,813 people came together to raise $181 million for this campaign in September," the Obama campaign announced via Twitter.

In an e-mail to supporters, campaign manager Jim Messina wrote that Obama’s 2012 fundraising efforts mark “a historic record for grassroots politics.” The campaign reports it has received more than 10 million individual campaign donations so far this year.

The Obama campaign has employed aggressive email, social media and text message solicitation programs to stay relevant with voters. The campaign also likely received a fundraising boost from September’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

The notable fundraising news comes only days after the president’s widely criticized performance at the first presidential debate in Denver. The Romney campaign has not released its September fundraising total, but it has said it expects to see an uptick of donations this week following the debate.

Obama was trailing his Republican opponent in monthly fundraising through July of this year, but his campaign began to surpass Romney in August.

The Obama campaign and its allies, including the pro-Democratic super PAC Priorities USA, had raised about $780 million for the president’s reelection through August, according to Federal Election Commission data. While Romney and his supporters have raised an almost equal amount, far more of Romney's haul comes from super PACs that are not bound by political contribution limits.