Patrick breaks single-month record for fund-raising

Deval L. Patrick's campaign said yesterday it raised about $550,000 in August, breaking the single-month fund-raising record for a gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts.

Patrick's campaign said the previous record was $547,553 , set by Governor Mitt Romney during his campaign in May 2002 . The other two Democratic gubernatorial contenders have not reported their fund-raising totals for the last two weeks of August. But from Aug. 1 to 15, Patrick surpassed both of them, raising $300,093 to Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's $30,147 and $15,820 for Christopher Gabrieli.

Patrick needs the money. Gabrieli, a wealthy former venture capitalist, has pumped nearly $7.5 million of his own money on the race so far. Reilly, whose long political career has helped him assemble a network of donors, had more than $2.2 million on hand in mid-August, compared with Patrick's $1.6 million.

Most candidates try to raise as much money as possible before a campaign heats up so they can advertise earlier, and in the race's final weeks spend more time meeting voters than dialing for dollars. Patrick, a first-time candidate, did not have that luxury.

Although Patrick's campaign said it boasts more than 18,000 individual contributors and 7,000 active volunteers, Patrick was the last of the three Democrats to begin advertising on television, and several recent polls have shown Gabrieli and Reilly closing in. A Globe poll published yesterday said the race was tied.

``We have been building against a plan for 18 months, and we are a little ahead of it," he said. ``But it's that discipline that has brought us this far and will bring us to a primary victory in three weeks' time."

Lisa Wangsness can be reached at lwangsness@globe.com.