The Free and Strong America PAC posted its second highest monthly receipts for 2009 in October. Monthly FEC filings for Mitt Romney and Co. show that the PAC brought in $440,000 last month, while expending $211,000. This month’s total also pushes the PAC’s year-to-date total above $3 million, and leaves them with almost $1.2 million on hand. October’s high numbers follow on the heels of strong fundraising numbers for September as well.

How does this compare to other potential candidates for the GOP nomination in 2012? Well, it’s always hard to tell because the Free and Strong America PAC files monthly while the Sarah PAC and Huck PAC have opted to file bi-annually, and Tim Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC is newly formed and has not yet made any filings.

July 1st of this year is the only point we can compare similar time frames. At that point it stood as following:
Romney: $1,908,000
Palin: $733,000
Huckabee: $304,000

A few points to add these sums: My guess is that Romney has by far and away continued to raise the most since July. Sarah Palin’s PAC was not formed until February, and she also raised funds for a defense fund. She is also focusing much of her attention in promoting her new book. Even so her numbers for the second half of the year will be much more telling. Mike Huckabee, though he has dismal fundraising numbers, has had extreme benefit from his show on FOX as well as his radio program. That kind of exposure probably has more monetary value than all of the $3 million Romney has been able to raise this year. On the downside, if he can’t translate increased name recognition and exposure into shear fundraising number he will have a hard time in the general election when he can no longer depend on his TV show.

Month by month fundraising and disbursement totals for the FSA PAC:

~Nate G.
(Cross-posted at Race42012.com)