Romney, Republican Party raise $40M in April

FILE - In this May 2, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Chantilly, Va. Romney and his Republican Party raised $40 million in April, an unexpectedly strong haul that illustrates enthusiasm within the GOP and puts the presumptive Republican nominee roughly on par with what President Barack Obama and his Democrats raised in the first month of the general election. Romney, who is spending most of his time raising cash after a hard-fought primary, still trails Obama in what may be the most expensive presidential contest in history. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this May 2, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Chantilly, Va. Romney and his Republican Party raised $40 million in April, an unexpectedly strong haul that illustrates enthusiasm within the GOP and puts the presumptive Republican nominee roughly on par with what President Barack Obama and his Democrats raised in the first month of the general election. Romney, who is spending most of his time raising cash after a hard-fought primary, still trails Obama in what may be the most expensive presidential contest in history. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney and his party together raised $40.1 million in April.

The figures put the likely GOP nominee's fundraising haul closer to the $43.6 million that President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party raised last month. Romney's campaign pulled in about $12.5 million in March.

April's reports provide the first fundraising tallies of the general election. Romney began raising cash in conjunction with the GOP last month.

The new fundraising totals don't include the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent by "super" political action committees that can raise and spend unlimited sums of cash.

Details financial reports from both campaigns are due at the Federal Election Commission by midnight Sunday.

Associated Press

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