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SACRAMENTO — Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan collected more than $600,000 and outpaced Gov. Gray Davis during a frenzied fund-raising period in the first three weeks of the year. 

Riordan, considered the front-runner in the GOP race to challenge Davis, fetched an average of $31,880 a day between Jan. 1 and Jan. 19 from a variety of donors. 

Davis trailed him slightly — raising $472,000 during the same period — but continued to build up an enormous campaign treasury and spend lavishly on his re-election bid months before the general election. 

Riordan also raised far more than his opponents in the March 5 primary, Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon and Secretary of State Bill Jones. 

Univision chief Jerry Perenchio, Riordan’s top contributor during the period, gave him $100,000 on Jan. 18. Perenchio already had chipped in $150,000 to Riordan’s campaign last year and has donated to Davis’ re-election bid. Since February 2000, Perenchio has given Davis at least $350,000. 

Riordan spent $2.1 million during the three-week period — nearly all of it going to consultant Don Sipple for television airtime and production costs for two TV commercials that already have aired statewide. 

Davis, meanwhile, spent more than $2 million for a statewide television commercial that began airing last week. Davis has no significant primary opponent, but his advisers said he began airing ads months before the general election to counter a spate of criticism directed at him from the GOP hopefuls. 

During the year’s first three weeks, Davis’ largest contributor was the International Association of Firefighters, which gave $75,000. 

Davis has plenty more to spend: He had $33 million on hand on Jan. 19. 

Simon, a political newcomer who has lent his campaign more than $2 million from his personal fortune, raised $196,000 in the first 19 days of the year. Although Simon’s aides have said for months that their candidate was prepared to spend $60 million running for governor, his latest finance report gave no indication that he will reach that. 

Meanwhile, Jones took in $237,000, but continued to lag behind Riordan and Davis in fund-raising and had the least cash on hand at the end of the reporting period. Jones is the only one of the three Republicans and Davis who has yet to air statewide television commercials.