Giuliani edges Romney in fundraising

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani raised $11 million in the third quarter of campaign season, his campaign reported, edging past a chief rival for the GOP presidential nomination, Mitt Romney.

Giuliani raised the cash during the three months that ended September 30. Candidates must report their collected campaign funds every three months.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, raised $1 million less than Giuliani in the same period, but when combined with a loan he made to his campaign of $8.5 million, he reported a total of $18.5 million for the third quarter.

Romney is only raising money for the primary. None of the funds are slated for the general election. Of the money Giuliani raised this quarter, nearly all of it -- $10.5 million -- has been set aside for the primary.

Giuliani's campaign also reported it had $16 million as of September 30, compared with Romney's $9 million.

Romney's year-to-date totals exceed Giuliani's by about $15 million. But of Romney's $62.4 million total, more than $17 million of that money came from the candidate's loans to his campaign.

More than 100,000 donors have contributed to Romney this year, the campaign said, with 23,000 new donors contributing in the third quarter.

Slightly behind Giuliani and Romney in the race for the quarter's most campaign cash is former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson. The campaign announced Thursday that Thompson raised $9.3 million from 80,000 supporters during the third quarter.

The level of Thompson's support "demonstrates his huge grassroots appeal for Republicans who've been waiting for an authentic conservative to enter the race for president," said Thompson campaign manager Bill Lacy.

Thompson has $7 million, his campaign said.

The actor, a former "Law & Order" star, formally entered the presidential race last month, but he has been raising money since June. Thompson raised close to $3.5 million from about 9,000 donors in June, the final month of the second quarter.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona raised $6 million this quarter, McCain's campaign said. A McCain adviser said recent poll numbers in New Hampshire and a busy fundraising schedule next month show the campaign has "some life."

McCain raised $24.5 million the first two quarters of the year, nearly all of the funds raised.

Fundraising is historically slow in the third quarter, which covers the final two months of summer and the first month of fall.

Campaign finance laws limit the amount an individual can contribute to a candidate during the primary cycle to $2,300. At the same time, individuals can contribute another $2,300 to a candidate for the general election.

Campaigns often report the total contributions for the primary and general cycles during a quarter, even though general election contributions can't be used immediately to buy ads or hire staff.

Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican campaigning on a libertarian platform, announced Wednesday he brought in $5 million during the third quarter. Watch why Paul's fundraising amount surprised political observers »

Lower numbers are expected for Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, Sen. Tom Tancredo of Colorado and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Clinton raised $27 million in the third quarter, a Clinton aide said Tuesday.

All but $5 million of Clinton's funds can be spent in the primaries, the aide said.

More than 100,000 new donors contributed to the New York Democrat, the aide said.

Clinton outpaced rival Sen. Barack Obama over the last three months, a reversal of positions from the second quarter.

The Obama campaign announced Monday the Illinois Democrat raised at least $20 million during the third quarter. All but about $1 million of Obama's contributions can be used in the primary fight.

In the second quarter, he shattered fundraising records by reporting he raised $32.5 million, $31 million of which he can use in his bid for the Democratic nod.

Clinton raised $27 million during that period; all but $6 million can be used in the primaries.

Obama's campaign said the senator has raised at least $74.9 million in primary funds so far this year from 352,000 donors.

In a conference call Monday, John Edwards' campaign announced the former U.S. senator from North Carolina raised $7 million during the third quarter.

Edwards, the party's 2004 vice presidential nominee, said last week he would accept public financing for the primary and general election campaigns, challenging Clinton and Obama to do the same.

Edwards' deputy campaign manager, Jonathan Prince, said the campaign has $12 million. Prince said public funding will add $10 million to its totals.

Edwards has raised more than $30 million so far, and the campaign is on the right track to reach its goal of $40 million by January, Prince said.

Crediting the campaign's aggressive grassroots outreach, Prince said Edwards received donations from 150,000 Americans, with 97 percent of contributions less than $250.

Edwards raised more than $9 million in the second quarter.

On Sunday, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson reported campaign contributions of $5.2 million for the third quarter, which his campaign said supports his claim that he is a top-tier candidate.

The campaign did not disclose how much it had spent during the quarter or how much cash it had left. Candidates have until October 15 to file a full report with the Federal Election Commission. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Lauren Kornreich, Mark Preston and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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