Washington - US Senator Barack Obama collected 31 million dollars from April to June for his presidential campaign, easily besting the centre-left Democratic Party's front runner, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton's second-quarter haul was more than 21 million dollars.
Obama, a first-term senator from the Midwestern state of Illinois, is the first Democrat to exceed 30 million dollars in a quarter before a presidential election year, the Washington Post reported.
The Democrats and the centre-right Republicans, begin their nominating processes with the Iowa caucuses in January and the New Hampshire primary in February.
With President George W Bush constitutionally barred from seeking a third term and Vice President Dick Cheney not seeking the presidency, the scramble of candidates in both major parties has begun earlier than ever before.
The next candidate in the second-quarter donation rankings was former senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who raised 9 million dollars. He was the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was fourth with 7 million dollars.
Major Republican candidates are expected to announce their second- quarter collections in the coming days.
