Although President Obama has very publicly “banned” corporate lobbyists from his White House, his reelection campaign is raising more money from business executives than are those of his Republican opponents.

As of Sept. 30, the Obama campaign had raised $5.6 million from executives, Bloomberg reports. Mitt Romney had raised $5.2 million, vastly outpacing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who had amassed only $272,000.

Wall Street and Romney

“Romney’s professional ties to the private-equity fund Bain Capital LLC, which he founded, fueled his receipts,” according to Bloomberg, which looked at contributions from about 9,000 individuals identified in federal filings as CEOs, presidents, vice presidents, chairmen and directors. Business executives, especially from the financial sector, like Romney because he is seen as “one of them,” according to Jonathan Krasno, a Binghamton University political scientist.

Obama has been critical of Wall Street financiers, but his campaign nonetheless commands “a large donor component that was linked to corporate America,” David Magleby, a University of Michigan political scientist, told Bloomberg. His chief fundraisers, in fact, are corporate executives themselves. Billionaire Penny Pritzker, CEO of Pritzker Realty Group, in 2008 led the president’s fundraising team, which this year is headed by Matthew Barzun, formerly with CNET Networks Inc.

Comcast Corp. executives have been big Obama donors, giving $59,725. That’s small potatoes compared with the at least $500,000 raised for the campaign by David L. Cohen, Comcast’s executive vice president, identified by Bloomberg as an Obama “bundler.”

Most of the money from business leaders is coming to the president’s reelection campaign through the Obama Victory Fund, which also contributes to the Democratic National Committee. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt have both contributed the maximum allowed under federal law to the reelection effort via the Obama Victory Fund.

Tech Firms Lean Democratic

Six executives from Salesforce.com, a San Francisco-based technology firm, have contributed $25,200. Executives with Chicago’s Chopper Trading LLC, another tech firm, have given another $25,000.

Tech-firm executives tend to lean Democratic, Magleby says, because they “tend to be younger, a little bit more unconventional in terms of their thinking about business.” They are also less likely to support the stances of Republican candidates “on some social issues.”

But Krasno says business executives are also likely to support the president simply because “he’s an incumbent” with a “pretty good chance of winning.”

The next fundraising reports, covering donations through the fourth quarter of the year and expected to show a surge for Gingrich, are due Jan. 31.