Obama, Democrats’ Spending Outpaced Donations in July

Facing strong fundraising from his Republican challenger, President Barack Obama and Democrats have spent more than they brought in last month during the presidential campaign.

Obama expanded his campaign operations and purchased millions of dollars in television advertising to compete with rival Mitt Romney.

New campaign finance reports out Monday show Obama's campaign spent about $59 million in July, much of it on advertising and paid staff. That's compared with about $49.2 million in total receipts during the same period.

By contrast, Romney's campaign reported $40.3 million in July revenues and spending $32.7 million.

Just like for Obama, a bulk of those expenses went to advertising purchases, although only about $15.5 million by comparison. Romney had fewer than half the number of paid staffers as Obama, or about 320.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)