The Obama campaign said yesterday that it received more than $51 million in July - including contributions from 65,000 new donors - slightly less than the previous month.

The report on donations to Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, followed by one day figures made public by the McCain campaign, which took in a more modest $27 million last month.

Still, July was the best fund-raising month ever for John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and the fifth month in a row that donations to his campaign exceeded those of the previous month.

The Obama campaign said it had $65.8 million on hand, compared with McCain's $21.4 million at the end of July.