The Daily Bail

You will notice that Ron Paul doesn't even make the list as his contributions come strictly from the people.

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WASHINGTON -- While other GOP presidential candidates race to win Saturday's Ames Straw Poll, Mitt Romney is quietly racking up support among Washington power brokers and heavyweights in the Republican party. His early lead in fundraising with lobbyists, Wall Street donors, and bundlers who raised money for George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is testament to this strategy.

According to disclosure reports filed at the end of July, 61 registered lobbyists and five lobbyist-linked political action committees contributed $137,650 to Romney's campaign between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2011. The former Massachusetts governor raised more money from lobbyists during this period than all of his competitors combined.

The other Republican candidates who received contributions from lobbyists in the first half of 2011 were, in order of most money received, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty ($63,204), former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman ($31,600), former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) ($25,500), former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum ($8,800), and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) ($125). The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) do not accept contributions from registered lobbyists.

Craig Holman, legislative representative for the watchdog group Public Citizen, told HuffPost that Romney's lead in lobbyist cash "strongly suggests that Romney is the favored candidate for wealthy special interest groups, especially K Street. They clearly think that they can get their foot in the door with Mitt Romney."

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