Clinton raises record sum for campaign

NEW York Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has raised a record US$26 million ($40 million) since announcing her presidential candidacy in what is shaping up as the most expensive race in history.

Mrs Clinton, who entered the race in January, has also transferred over US$10 million from her Senate re-election run.

That made for a total of US$36 million in receipts for the three months to March 31, her staff said. That would be a record for the first-quarter of a non-election year.

The deadline to report quarterly campaign finance figures to the Federal Election Commission is April 15, and candidates are jockeying to cast their fund-raising clout in the best light as an early test of their campaign's success.

Mrs Clinton's campaign manager, Ms Patti Solis Doyle, said the preliminary figure far exceeded a goal of US$15 million set for the January to March period.

Mrs Clinton's campaign said US$6 million of the total had been raised from grassroots efforts, including US$4.2 million on the Internet and US$1.8 million from telemarketing. Campaign staff said 50,000 donors from all 50 states gave money, and 80 per cent of the contributions were US$100 or less.

President George W. Bush still holds the fund-raising record of US$50 million in the third quarter of 2003, when he did not even face a primary challenger.