Pawlenty campaign raises $4.2 million in 2nd quarter

WASHINGTON - Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign raised $4.2 million from donors in the past quarter, considerably less than the $20 million rival Republican Mitt Romney is expected to bring in.

"Gov. Pawlenty will report that his campaign has raised about $4.2 million, and begins the third quarter with more available cash-on-hand than the Republicans who won the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary had in July 2007," wrote spokesman Alex Conant in a brief email to reporters.

The low haul (some estimates from earlier this week had suggested the campaign would bring in as much as $5 million) comes as Pawlenty remains stuck far behind Romney and fellow Minnesotan Rep. Michele Bachmann in the polls.

Presidential campaigns have until July 15th to file detailed information about donations and spending to the Federal Election Commission, but many campaigns release their total fundraising haul early in order to show off to rival campaigns and prospective donors.

Bachmann has a reputation for being an aggressive and highly successful fundraiser, especially with small donors but campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart said yesterday the campaign didn't plan to release numbers early and sought to downplay expectations.

"Keep in mind, we have only been in this for three weeks and have been working on organization and the announcement tour," Stewart wrote in an email.

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