Presidential Fundraising in 2007 Double Amount Raised in 2003

From the Campaign Finance Institute:

"The presidential candidates raised a combined total of nearly $552 million in 2007 for the 2008 primaries, according to year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on January 31. This more than doubles the previous off-year record of $273 million that the 2004 candidates raised in 2003.

• Democrats in 2007 raised $292 million for the primaries, with $253 million coming from individuals and most of the rest from candidates’ Senate campaign committees and loans.
• Republicans in 2007 raised $260 million for the primaries, with $208 million coming from individuals and most of the rest from Senate campaign committees and from self-financing.
• After starting the year slowly, Republicans raised more from individuals in the fourth quarter ($65 million, including $20 million by Ron Paul) than the Democrats ($58 million).

Despite the massive increase in fundraising, the proportion that the candidates raised in large and small contributions changed only a few percentage points, in the aggregate, from four years before. Contributions of $1,000 or more accounted for 61% of all contributions from individuals in 2007 compared to 66% in 2003."   [RJ]