Gov. Tim Pawlenty raised $723,501 this quarter, putting the Minnesota governor on nearly equal footing with former Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin — but well behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who hauled in $1.8 million.
Pawlenty, who has not officially declared he is running for president, has raised $2.6 million since he formed his Freedom First PAC last October and has nearly $940,000 cash on hand.
He donated $83,600 to federal and state candidates, including contributions to five of the six South Carolina congressional Republican candidates, South Carolina's GOP gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and Sen. Jim DeMint. That includes Rep. Joe Wilson, who yelled "You lie!" to the president last year.
He also gave money to Marco Rubio, the conservative Republican senate candidate in Florida.
The only Minnesota candidate Pawlenty contributed to was Randy Demmer, who is running against Rep. Tim Walz in Minnesota's first district.
Pawlenty's spokesman Alex Conant said in a statement: "We're really appreciative of the strong show of support for Governor Pawlenty's political efforts. With these resources, we'll be able to help elect more conservatives this fall, and stop the out-of-control spending in Washington."
Pawlenty has started laying the groundwork for a potential 2012 presidential bid with frequent trips to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the early primary states. But his fundraising still trails Romney with the 2012 primaries still 18 months away, who has raised $3.5 million in 2010. Palin has raised $1.2 this year, with $865,000 coming this quarter.
Newt Gingrich, also considering a 2012 run, raised $3.5 million this quarter, but a majority of that came through his 527 political group that's subject to different fundraising rules.
