Romney raised $106.1 million in June

WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- Republican hopeful Mitt Romney raised $106.1 million in June in his bid to unseat Democratic President Obama, who pulled in $71 million, officials said Monday.

Of the total the Romney campaign collected, $22.3 million was raised in increments of less than $250, the Los Angeles Times reported. Another $4.6 million -- mostly in small donations -- came from a joint fundraiser by the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee the day after the Supreme Court's decision to uphold Obama's healthcare law.

"This month's fundraising is a statement from voters that they want a change of direction in Washington. Voters of all stripes -- Republicans, Independents and Democrats -- have made it clear that President Obama has not lived up to the promises of his last campaign," Romney finance chairman Spencer Zwick said in a statement.

The Obama team has been out-raised by the Romney campaign for the past two months, The New York Times reported.

In an e-mail to donors on Monday, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said he had a good news-bad news message, The Hill reported.

"Good news first: June was our best fundraising month yet," Messina wrote. "We exceeded expectations -- more than 706,000 people like you stepped up and pitched in for a grand total of $71 million raised for this campaign and the Democratic Party. Bravo. That's seriously impressive.

"Bad news? We still got beat. Handily."

In an e-mail to supporters, Ann Marie Habershaw, the campaign's chief operating officer, said the financial situation for the president could be weighty.

"If we lose this election, it will be because we didn't close the gap enough when we had the chance," she wrote in the e-mail.