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Pompano Beach, FL — Responding to more questions about the state of his campaign finances, Rudy Giuliani said Sunday that he has not contributed cash to his own presidential effort and is against using personal wealth to fund campaigns.

“I never have,” he told reporters on the press bus after a rally at his campaign office in Pompano Beach.
“I believe that the way you run for office is to raise money. You have got to raise money among people and you got to have their support in order to run.”

The campaign disclosed earlier this week that senior staffers have been asked to forgo their pay on a voluntary basis in order to save cash for their all-in effort in Florida. Giuliani said his campaign will have enough money to proceed with their Florida battle plan–since he began the new year with more than $7 million in cash on hand for the primary effort.

“We are in good shape, we really are. The reality is we have enough money to get through this,” he said. “We are going to be able to contest very strongly here in Florida. The people who (gave up pay) did that out of an excess of genorosity.”

Giuliani is not alone facing financial issues as fellow contenders Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and John McCain are all facing a fiscal crunch as the primary season continues into month number 12. Mitt Romney, who holds a fortune of more than $400 million dollars has already contributed more than $17 million to his effort as of the fall and has acknowledged the he contributed additional millions in late 2007, early 2008.

Rudy Giuliani National Finance Co-Chairman Roy Bailey resigned his post late last month, campaign officials confirmed today.
Bailey still advises the campaign on an ad hoc/volunteer basis but resigned from the finance post (a volunteer/unpaid position) last month due to lack of time, a senior aide tells Fox.

“In order to concentrate on private business needs, he didn’t think it was it was fair to maintain the title if he had to reduce his time commitment, for example Roy had travelled a great deal as national chair and he can no longer do that. Roy and Rudy remain close personal friends,” added the official, denying that Bailey left the post due to any disputes over fundraising or the campaign’s financial predicament.

Asked about it at an avail today, Giuliani said, “People shift around all of the time and they do different things. You’re really going to have to get in touch with the campaign I’m not in touch with all of the decisions everyday, who moves over to this, who moves over to that…I don’t think anyone’s really decided to leave — I think people have shifted responsibilities, including in this decision.”

Jim Lee, the other national finance co-chair still holds his post–which entails overseeing the network of local organizers and mapping out the long-term fundraising outlook for the campaign. Bailey’s position has not been filled as of yet.

Campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella adds that no top officials within the campaign’s fundraising operation have left the campaign during the last 2 months.

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Coral Springs, FL — Rudy Giuliani today denied he was in dire fiscal straits, saying some staffers have volunteered to go without pay to “stretch out the money” for Florida.

“Some people volunteered to do it. We didn’t ask anyone to do it. Some people volunteered to do it cause they wanted to stretch out the money,” he said. “We have quite a bit of money. They wanted to make sure that we had even more money for the end of this situation in Florida so we could have-I guess enough on the air or whatever.”

Giuliani added, “We don’t have any debt we don’t have any liabilities of any kind. We have got a good deal of money in the bank. Probably more than just about any campaign. This was an effort to try to stretch dollars even further….we are probably one of the most fiscally conservative of the campaigns–certainly on the Republican side.”

Asked whether he will have enough cash to compete in the Feb. 5 primary states, Giuliani reiterated that his campaign strategy in Florida is all-in.

“We will have some (after Jan. 29) but frankly, you know, Florida is real important to us so we are gonna put–if not everything into Florida, almost everything,” Giuliani said.

FOX’s Carl Cameron has learned that Rudy Giuliani’s cash-strapped presidential campaign has asked paid staffers to voluntarily work without pay retroactive to January 1st to save money for the Florida primary.

But the campaign is quick to point out that it is not living hand to mouth, issuing a statement this morning noting that it stil has over $12.7 million cash on hand, with over $7 million in primary dough as of December 31.

“From day one our campaign has been focused on a national strategy built around the new primary calendar. As such, we’ve budgeted conservatively and effectively targeted our resources to win under this new system. We will have the funds necessary to carry out our campaign plan and deliver the Mayor’s message in Florida and beyond,” said Giuliani Campaign Manager Michael DuHaime.

The Giuliani campaign is not alone with money woes. Among other republican candidates, senior staffers for Fred Thompson and John McCain have also been asked to work without pay over the course of the last few months.

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