ASHINGTON - George W. Bush reported yesterday that he added another $10 million to his record-setting campaign treasury during the last three months of the year. The Texas governor has amassed to date more than $67 million, twice as much as any other presidential candidate has ever brought in.
Bush said he had scaled down his fund-raising in the fourth quarter of the year, attending only 18 events as compared to 41 during the previous three-month period.
Nevertheless, Bush still raised more than the rest of the Republican field combined, not including publisher Steve Forbes, who is largely self-financing his campaign.
Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, second to Bush in the GOP race in national polls, raised more than $6.1 million from Oct. 1 through December, twice as much as he took in between July 1 and Sept. 30. Overall, McCain raised $13.6 million in 1999, plus an additional $2 million transferred from his Senate campaign funds.
Bush spent more during the fourth quarter, $17 million, than McCain raised for the year.
In releasing his year-end totals yesterday, Bush noted that more than 171,000 individuals had already contributed an average of $337 each to his campaign.
''I am humbled and honored that so many Americans are responding to my message of improving public schools, cutting taxes for every American family, strengthening our military and ushering in an era of responsibility in America,'' Bush said.
The Texas governor still has an estimated $31.4 million in the bank, almost as much as the $32 million that 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole raised for his campaign.
McCain, by contrast, estimated that he had a balance of $1.5 million, plus an expected $6.2 million in federal matching funds.
