(CNN) – Mitt Romney’s team announced Thursday it raised $77 million last month, surpassing the total announced earlier in the day by President Barack Obama’s re-election effort and marking the first month the Republican effort out-raised the Democrats.
Romney’s campaign cash, which includes money taken in by Romney for President, Romney Victory, and the Republican National Committee, included money raised in all 50 states and in Washington, DC, the campaign said.
Earlier Thursday, Obama’s team announced on Twitter they had raised more than $60 million in May. The money is divided between the re-election campaign, the Democratic National Committee and affiliated Democratic state parties.
The Obama team also indicated that nearly all of their donations in May – 98% – were less than $250, and the average contribution totaled $54.94.
Romney’s campaign said 93% of their May contributions were less than $250, and amounted to $12 million of their total haul.
The Republican effort said they ended May with $107 million in the bank. Obama’s campaign did not disclose their cash on hand for May, though they ended April with $115 million.
Romney’s May fund-raising figures are a big jump from his April haul, when his campaign reported raising $40.1 million. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, two of Romney’s rivals for the GOP nomination, both announced they were dropping their bids for president in April, meaning May was the first month Romney was running unopposed for the GOP nomination.
The former Massachusetts governor and two-time presidential candidate clinched his party’s nomination at the end of May, when he secured enough delegates to become the GOP nominee at the Republican convention in August.
Responding to the Romney fund-raising announcement, Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt tweeted: “Reminder on RNC/Romney camp fundraising: 1st month joint committee was in existence, so all their primary donors wrote their maxout checks.”
Romney and the RNC joined fund-raising forces beginning May 8.
