Former governor campaigns in Mass.

With the Boston skyline as a backdrop, Mitt Romney reclaimed Massachusetts as his home state last night, telling hundreds of supporters at a fund-raiser for his presidential campaign, "My lifetime has been spent with you."

The event, two days after the former governor formally launched his White House run from Michigan, helped illustrate his divided loyalties to his native state and his adopted one, where the 59-year-old candidate has lived for most of the past 36 years.

"It's good to be home, thank you," he said to a crowd of Republican donors, elected officials, and other supporters at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The event drew 600 to 800 people and raised more than $1 million, according to the campaign. "It's nice to be home. This is home," Romney said.

As if to underscore the point, the Fenway Park anthem "Dirty Water" blared from loudspeakers after Romney spoke. They even played the 2004 clip of WEEI-AM announcer Joe Castiglione saying, "And the Boston Red Sox are world champions!"

After being introduced by his former lieutenant governor, Kerry Healey, Romney gave a modified version of the speech he delivered this week in Dearborn, Mich., Des Moines, Iowa, and Columbia, S.C. But it was much more focused on Massachusetts than the others, as Romney spun through his accomplishments as governor, such as the novel healthcare plan he signed into law last year.

"It's going to change the nation," Romney said.

He explained that he decided to kick off his campaign in Michigan in part to honor his family's history there; his father, George, was an auto executive in Detroit and a three-term governor.

"I joked it's a state I have a chance of winning in the general election," he added. But he made sure to give his Massachusetts friends and admirers the same privilege later, saying, "I hereby declare officially in my home, I'm running for president of the United States."

He also brushed aside polls showing him trailing the Republican front-runners, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor, by wide margins.

"Don't worry about the national polls at this point; they don't mean anything," Romney said, adding that what really matters is momentum in early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. "And slowly but surely we're going to be building our strength there."

Last night's event included a $1,000-a-person main reception and $2,100-a-person leadership reception, and Romney at one point said, "Tonight, each one of you's written a check." But e-mails circulating among Republicans yesterday showed that Romney supporters were trying hard to get people to the event by inviting them and their guests for free.

McCain and Giuliani have tried to undermine Romney's formal announcement this week by trumpeting endorsements made from prominent Massachusetts GOP figures.

Romney made a point last night of thanking elected Republicans for being there, including House minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. of North Reading, who said Romney still has the backing of much of the Bay State GOP.

"The fact of the matter is, the vast majority of elected Republicans are supporting him," Jones said. "I think he's going to have a good story to tell about Massachusetts, both personally and professionally."

Helen Hatch, a Republican state committeewoman from Woburn, said: "We've had four years of great government. He has a lot to offer the country."

Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.