Clinton nets $26 million in first quarter

WASHINGTON – Two Democratic presidential candidates broke previous fundraising records during the first three months of the year, with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York setting a high bar of $26 million in new contributions for the quarter.

Former Sen. John Edwards’ campaign said he had raised more than $14 million since the beginning of the year.

The Clinton campaign also announced that she had transferred about $10 million from her last Senate campaign, bringing her total receipts for the quarter to $36 million. Edwards had no such transfers of money.

Clinton aides would not specify how many of her contributions were designated only for the primary election and how many could only be used in the general election, if she were the party’s nominee.

Edwards’ aides said about $1 million of his contributions could only be used in a general election.

Neither campaign divulged how much money it had spent in the quarter or how much cash it had in hand.

Still, the total raised by each candidate outdistanced past presidential election records and set a new bar by which to measure fundraising abilities.

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois – sandwiched in public opinion polls between Clinton and Edwards – had yet to reveal his totals.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s campaign said he had raised $6 million in primary campaign money and had more than $5 million cash in hand at the end of the three-month period.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said on “Fox News Sunday” he had raised about $3 million in the quarter. Biden also had about $3.6 million in his Senate campaign account that he could transfer to a presidential run.

The rest of the Democratic field and the Republican presidential candidates planned to announce their first-quarter totals over the next few days. The fundraising deadline for the January through March period was Saturday, with financial reports due April 15.

Republican Phil Gramm of Texas and Democrat Al Gore of Tennessee held the records for first-quarter receipts: $8.7 million for Gramm in 1995 and $8.9 million for Gore in 1999. Gramm dropped out before New Hampshire held the 1996 election’s first primary.

“We are completely overwhelmed and gratified by the historic support that we’ve gotten this quarter,” Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said. The Clinton total included $4.2 million raised through the Internet, typically a source of small donations.

By not breaking down the amount available for the primaries, the Clinton camp made it impossible to make clear comparisons to past campaigns or to the Edwards total.

“We’re above our budget for the year,” Edwards deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince said. “We’re completely on track to have all the money that we need to be highly competitive in the campaign.”

Most of the top tier candidates in the Republican and Democratic fields for 2008 are raising money for the primaries and the general election. The general election money can only be spent if the candidate wins the nomination.

No Republican presidential candidates had released fundraising totals Sunday.