Romney brings in more than $14 million during third quarter

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CNN's Paul Steinhauser and Kevin Bohn

(CNN) - GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney pulled in $14.16 million in the third quarter, his campaign reported Friday.

The July through September haul brings to more than $32 million the amount of campaign cash raised by the former Massachusetts governor, who's making his second bid for the White House.

The campaign also reports that it has just over $14 million cash on hand, and that nearly 56,000 contributors donated in the third quarter.

"We are proud of the $32 million we have raised for the campaign so far. This is just the start of the effort to help fuel Mitt Romney's message that will defeat President Obama next November," said Romney for President National Finance Chairman Spencer Zwick, in a statement.

Earlier this month a source close to the Romney campaign indicated the former Massachusetts governor would raise between $11 to $13 million in the third quarter. Romney is currently the front-runner in the national polls and many state surveys in the battle for the GOP nomination.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry brought in $17 million in the last seven weeks of the third quarter, after he jumped into the race on August 13. Perry's campaign reported having around $15 million in the bank. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who's making his third run for the presidency, brought in around $8 million in the third quarter.

Herman Cain said Thursday in an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett that his campaign has hundreds of thousands of dollars cash on hand, and that "for the quarter, we will report, first of all, no debt."

The businessman, former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host has been surging in national and state polling the past two weeks.

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign Thursday reported raising $42.8 million in the period running from July through the end of September. Overall, the campaign announced it and the Democratic National Committee brought in more than $70 million in the third quarter of fundraising. The Obama campaign and the DNC raised a record breaking $86 million in the last fundraising quarter that ended in June.

Candidates have until the end of Saturday to file their third quarter figures with the Federal Election Commission.