US:Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney have shattered fundraising records for a presidential race, collecting $26 million and $23 million respectively in the first three months of this year.
Mr Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is trailing Republican rivals Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in opinion polls, surprised many political analysts with his $23 million tally, which compares with just $15 million for Mr Giuliani, his party's frontrunner.
Mr McCain, who is visiting US forces in Iraq, last night announced that he had raised $12.5 million in the first quarter.
"Facing opponents in an extremely competitive fundraising field who enjoy universal name identification and the clear advantage of existing networks of contributors, governor Romney's fundraising totals are indicative of the extraordinary success the campaign has had at building an organisation and stirring excitement among grassroots activists responding to his message," said Mr Romney's spokesman, Kevin Madden.
Ms Clinton's campaign team were jubilant as they announced that the Democratic candidate was carrying forward $10 million from last year's senate campaign, bringing her total for the first quarter of this year to $36 million.
Campaign insiders said that the number of donors to Ms Clinton - more than 50,000 - was as significant as the sum raised, pointing out that 80 per cent of donations were of less than $100. Among other Democrats, former vice-presidential candidate John Edwards raised an impressive $14 million, but Barack Obama has yet to disclose his fundraising results. If Mr Obama has raised more than $20 million, his campaign will receive an important psychological boost and will have denied Ms Clinton a knockout punch at this early stage in the campaign.
Individual donors can give each candidate up to $2,300 for the primary campaign and a further $2,300 for the general election, although donations for the general election must be returned if the candidate fails to win his or her party's nomination.
Ms Clinton has not yet disclosed what proportion of the $26 million she raised is designated for the general election.
Her campaign is planning a number of high-profile fundraising events in the coming weeks, including a $4,600 per head cocktail reception at the New York home of actor Gabriel Byrne, hosted by former president Bill Clinton.
Two other Democratic contenders, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and Connecticut senator Chris Dodd, have raised enough in the first quarter to ensure that their campaigns remain viable. Mr Richardson said he had raised $6 million. Mr Dodd said he raised more than $4 million and transferred nearly $5 million from his senate campaign for a total of $9 million.
