Clinton's primary campaign begins April in debtPosted: 11:14 AM ET
Hillary Clinton began the month with $10 million in debt.
(CNN) – Hillary Clinton began one of the most crucial stretches of her presidential campaign in debt, newly disclosed financial reports show.
According to campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission over the weekend, the New York senator began the month of April with close to $32 million cash-on hand. But, according to the Associated Press, only $9 million of that total are funds that are able to be spent in the primary races. The report also showed Clinton owes more than $10 million, meaning the Democratic presidential candidate was in the red even before she heavily stepped up television advertising in Pennsylvania.
The newly released reports offer the clearest picture to date of just how much of an advantage Barack Obama holds over Clinton heading into the final stretch of the prolonged Democratic race for the White House.
According to the reports, he began the month with over $42 million to spend during the presidential primaries and only carried around $650,000 in debt. Obama has $52 million cash on hand overall.
As has already been disclosed by both campaigns, Obama more than doubled what Clinton raised in the month of March: $41 million to her $20 million. The Illinois senator's stunning haul brings his presidential fundraising total to date to $235 million — $60 million more than what Clinton has raised in the same time period.
John McCain lagged both Democrats in March fundraising — pulling in $15 million in that time period. He began the month with $11.6 million cash-on-hand and, a debt of just over $700,000. He's raised a total of about $75 million.
The report also shows he gave back nearly $3 million from donors for his general election campaign. This move could indicate he is setting the stage to receive public financing for his campaign — an option that will infuse the Arizona senator with $84 million.
From: CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
Filed under: Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • John McCain
