Texas billionaire Ross Perot gave another $1.98 million to his own fledgling campaign in May and for the first time received a large influx of unsolicited private donations.
Democrat Bill Clinton, meanwhile, reported his campaign debt soared to $3.93 million in May. He spent $5.29 million and raised $2.38 million.Clinton has raised $14.2 million since entering the race but still trails President Bush's fund-raising by nearly 2-to-1.
Perot has promised to bankroll his independent bid for the White House and says he's not asking for contributions. But he reported Tuesday he received $728,779 in private donations during May, more than double the $300,000 for the previous two months combined.
His May donations included a mix of the in-kind contributions from volunteers.
Perot's own contribution to his volunteer-led campaign raised his total to $3.24 million since March, when he began to plan an independent presidential bid.
Clinton's campaign blamed the debts and fund-raising gap mostly on the campaign's late start and the huge expenses of converting from a primary to a general election campaign.