That's easily the largest amount of contributions raised by a politician in Utah in such a short time, observers say.

Romney took in $2,865,190 from Utah donors, according to his first-quarter campaign report filed Friday, making the state's contribution second only to California's $3.47 million.

California has more than 36 million residents - 14 times Utah's population.

"I would have to assume it's the Mormons," says Julian Zelizer, professor of American politics at Boston University. "He's become symbolically very important for the Mormons who see him as the one who could achieve being the first Mormon in the White House."

Campaign finance reports don't list religion of donors, though it's clear that Utah, dominated by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, plays a key role in Romney's fundraising effort. Many political pundits have said that Romney's Mormon religion, which is viewed by some evangelical Protestants as a cult, will be a hindrance to his campaign.

But in the money race - the one that matters most at this early stage of the campaign - Mormons appear to be a big help to Romney.

"In some ways, that obstacle that he's faced can also be a positive," Zelizer says.

A campaign spokesman for Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has a second home in Utah, credited the large cash haul to Romney's leadership of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

"Utah would naturally be a base of support for Governor Romney, since it was the location for one of his greatest accomplishments, having turned the Salt Lake City Olympic Games of 2002 into a magnificent success for the state of Utah and the nation as a whole," Romney press secretary Kevin Madden said.

In previous campaigns, presidential candidates have largely skipped Utah to raise money or press for votes, but this time around several candidates are making trips to the state. Romney has held several fundraisers in Utah, and Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have raised cash there as well.

Giuliani reported that he took in $76,150 from Utahns in a campaign filing Friday. McCain's report was not filed as of late Friday.

Jeff Hartley, the executive director of the Utah Republican Party, said Romney's totals from Utah are "phenomenal."

"I don't recall any candidate raising that amount of money," Hartley said.

But he also cautioned that one can't attribute the money raised only to Mormons.

"I think it's important to point out it's not just Mormons who support Romney, or just Republicans who support Romney," Hartley says. "There are a lot of independent voters and many non-Mormon donors in this list."

Besides the top two states of California and Utah, Romney's other top states include, in order, Massachusetts, Texas, Michigan, New York, Florida, Arizona, Ohio and Connecticut. Romney was born in Michigan and his father, George Romney, served as governor there.

Three people in Romney's filing listed themselves as employees of the LDS Church, including a missionary, an emeritus General Authority and a public affairs representative. The missionary, Andrea Faulkner, gave Romney $2,300 from an address in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. John Carmack, a former member of the church's Quorum of the Seventy, gave $500.

Prominent Utah and Mormon families also gave to Romney, including $9,200 from the Huntsman family, $26,200 from persons with the last name of Marriott and even $46,255 from some with the last name of Romney.

More than 32,000 unique donors gave to Romney in the first three months of the year, and he pulled in about $7.2 million in online donations.

Nationally, Romney raised the most of any of the 2008 Republican contenders, $21 million, and he loaned himself $2.5 million as seed money to start his campaign. Romney reported cash on hand of $11.8 million.

tburr@sltrib.com