The campaign of Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and Republican candidate for governor of California, announces that ”her exploratory committee has raised more than $6.5 million since launching her campaign just five months ago. Whitman was the last Republican candidate to form an exploratory committee, yet she has quickly attracted contributions from every corner of California and far surpassed the other candidates’ fundraising totals during the first reporting period ending June 30, 2009.”

For comparison, Steve Poizner’s campaign announced over $1.2 million raised to date, “highlighted by a strong June fundraising month.”