Washington - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama raised more than 40 million dollars in March, a stronger showing than rival Hillary Clinton but less than the record 55 million dollars he collected a month earlier, his campaign said Thursday. Clinton has yet to announce her March fundraising totals, but her campaign did acknowledge that she took in less than Obama, who holds a small lead over Clinton in the number of delegates needed to capture the party's nomination.
The Obama campaign said more than 442,000 people contributed in March and 215,000 of them were first-time donors. More than 1 million people have given money to date.
Campaign manager David Plouffe said Obama had created "the largest grassroots army in recent political history," in a statement announcing the fundraising numbers.
Obama has outspent Clinton by a margin of 4-1 in advertising in Pennsylvania, the largest state left to vote in the now three-month old nominating process. Clinton remains ahead in state polls ahead of the April 22 primary, though her lead has narrowed in recent weeks.
Clinton's campaign said it would not provide monthly fundraising totals until the middle of April.
