[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

In an unexpected twist, Senator Hillary Clinton topped the presidential field in third quarter fundraising today, raising $22 million for the presidential primary. Senator Barack Obama fell $3 million short with $19 million raised. Former Senator John Edwards trailed with a distant $7 million, while Governor Bill Richardson raised $5.2 million.

Numbers for the Republican field haven't fully trickled in yet, but it looks like the GOP had another lackluster quarter. Former Senator Fred Thompson raised $8 million and Senator John McCain raised only $5 million.

Photo courtesy Oakland Tribune.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Presidential fundraising second quarter '07 numbers are in, and Senator Barack Obama has struck gold, with $31 million in primary funds raised. Most remarkably, this was done with 154,000 contributors, suggesting robust grassroots support for the candidate despite consistent polling that puts him 10 points behind Senator Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Clinton's campaign estimates $27 million raised; former Senator John Edwards has raised $9 million; and Governor Bill Richardson has raised $7 million.

For comparison's sake, at this point four years ago, former Governor Howard Dean raised $7.1 million with over 73,000 contributors, followed by John Kerry with $5.9 million and Joe Lieberman with $5.1 million.