One of the men hoping to win the Republican Presidential Nomination for 2008 was in Bay County Monday night, doing a little fund-raising.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney made stopped in Panama City on his way through from Tallahassee.

Romney visited the house of former Florida House Speaker Allan Bense for the private fundraiser. Nearly 300 people showed up to meet Romney and support his campaign.

Romney is not the best known candidate, but he is well-financed. And he has strong opinions about some of the key issues.

Monday evening he talked about the Senate immigration bill. He says he'd like to see a more secure system.

"I'd like to make sure we secure the border and we have a verification system, that's what we need first. As for those here illegally, they have no special right to stay."

Although it's still early in the campaign, some of the latest polls show Romney is leading the other Republicans in New Hampshire, Iowa and the bellwether states.