Powered by a fundraising appearance by President Obama, the Democratic National Committee raised $8.4 million in May, its highest take in any month in the 2009-10 campaign cycle.

The Republican National Committee raised $5.8 million last month but began June in a stronger financial position than the DNC. The RNC has $21.5 million in the bank and no debts, while the DNC has $12.1 million banked with $5.6 million in debts.

These figures were revealed in monthly fundraising reports both national party organizations filed with the Federal Election Commission ahead of a Saturday deadline.

More than half of the $4.8 million the DNC raised in larger, itemized individual donations last month came from contributors from in California, where Obama attended a DNC fundraiser May 27 in Beverly Hills.

The DNC’s May contributor list is honeycombed with luminaries in the entertainment industry who gave the DNC the maximum amount of $30,400. They include actors Jamie Foxx and Seth Rogen; actor and director Rob Reiner; Brad Grey, the chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures; Aaron Sorkin, the creator of “The West Wing” television series; Steve Bing, a producer and one of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors; and Ari Emanuel, a talent agent whose brother, Rahm Emanuel , is White House chief of staff.

Writer-producers Cameron Crowe and Steven Bochco each gave $15,200 last month to the DNC.

Those big checks enabled the DNC to raise more in larger itemized donations than in smaller donations that are not individually listed on campaign reports. The RNC actually raised more than the DNC in smaller donations last month.

The RNC spent more than the DNC in May in part because the GOP organization gave $1 million apiece to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of the 178 House Republicans, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the 40 Republican senators.

The RNC also gave $1.5 million last month to the campaign committee of Virginia Republican Bob McDonnell, a former state Attorney General who is the party’s nominee in a governor’s race this Nov. 3. Virginia is one of just a handful of states that allow unlimited political donations from any source.

The RNC also gave $100,000 apiece to its state affiliates in Oregon and New Hampshire. It also gave $78,800 to the Republican Party organization in Virginia, which is helping McDonnell in his race against Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds.

Democratic National Committee

• Receipts, May 2009: $8.4 million

• Receipts, Campaign Cycle-to-Date: $30.6 million