Washington ? Republican fund-raisers, relatives and golfer Ben Crenshaw are among dozens of White House overnight guests President Bush and first lady Laura Bush have played host to since moving in last year.

The issue of White House sleepovers first arose in the Clinton administration when it was learned that the Democratic Party was rewarding big donors with overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom.

The Bushes’ roughly 160 guests include at least six of President Bush’s biggest fund-raisers and their families. White House spokeswoman Anne Womack said she didn’t know whether donors, or any other Bush guests, have slept in the Lincoln Bedroom.

“They sleep in a variety of guest rooms in the White House,” Womack said. “The president and Mrs. Bush enjoy spending time with their friends and family and have invited friends and family to stay as guests in the White House.”

A half dozen Bush donors and fund-raisers known as “pioneers” are among the guests on a list released late Friday by the White House. Each raised at least $100,000 for Bush’s 2000 campaign, helping him take in a record $100 million for the primary.

They include Roland Betts, a Yale classmate of Bush’s and a former partner of his in the Texas Rangers baseball team; venture capitalist and Republican National Committee fund-raiser Brad Freeman; Texas rancher and state Sen. Teel Bivins; Boston businessman Joe O’Donnell; and Joe O’Neill of Midland, Tex., an oilman and childhood friend of Bush credited with introducing him to Laura Bush.

Womack said the Bush fund-raisers were also longtime friends of the Bushes.

Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign-finance watchdog group, said whether the Bushes are letting contributors stay in the Lincoln Bedroom “matters symbolically,” regardless of whether the donors are also family friends.

“The Republicans made a very big deal about it during the Clinton administration,” Noble said. “In this whole business, the whole issue is perception.”

The halting of White House tours for the general public since the Sept. 11 attacks may present a new issue for the Bushes, he said. Only children’s groups, veterans and guests of members of Congress are currently allowed on tours.

“The American public’s access to the White House has been severely restricted,” Noble said. “So you may have an increased perception problem if in fact large contributors are getting access to the White House.”