Obama tops Romney in August fundraising

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- President Obama ended August with nearly $40 million more cash in the bank than Republican challenger Mitt Romney, campaign financial reports indicated.

However, the Republican National Committee had more than 10 times the amount of cash on hand than the Democratic National Committee, The Hill reported.

The reports, filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission, indicated Obama ended August with $88.8 million, compared to $50.4 million for the Romney campaign. Romney's total included $15 million in loans that must be repaid, meaning that he began the month with access to about $35.4 million.

Obama outperformed Romney in fundraising in August, bringing in $84.7 million to Romney's $66.6 million.

An election law provision meant that much of the money Romney raised in the early months of the general election was held by the RNC and wasn't available until Romney formally accepted the nomination last month -- giving the RNC a huge cash advantage over its Democratic counterpart for the August reporting period, The Hill said.

FEC filings indicate the RNC ended August with $76.6 million cash on hand to the DNC's $7.1 million.

Obama and the DNC together started September with $95.9 million, The Hill said. The Romney campaign and the RNC had $112 million available.