Obama fundraising picks up in January

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama pulled in $29.1 million for his re-election campaign and the Democratic Party in January, raising his total for this election cycle to about $250 million.

The sum, announced Friday, shows he’s picked up the pace from his $23 million-a-month average of the final three months of last year

According to financial reports and Obama campaign officials, the Obama Victory Fund, a joint venture of his campaign and the Democratic National Committee, raised $13.4 million. Separately, the Obama campaign raised $9.3 million, the DNC raised $6.1 million and an Obama swing state fund raised $384,000.

That fundraising concluded before the campaign’s announcement this month that, in a reversal, Obama would embrace the big big-money fundraising groups he once criticized and let them help in his re-election. Those so-called super PACs, financed with large donations from a small group of individuals, have been prominent in the Republican presidential primary and are also poised to spend millions in the general election contest.

The January numbers were being reported as Obama concluded a three-day swing of California and Washington that included eight fundraisers, most of them high-dollar events. All told, the president was expected to raise more than $8 million during the trip.