Mitt Romney raises $14 million in third quarter

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday announced that his campaign raised more than $14 million in the third quarter.

Romney's latest fundraising period was less fruitful for him than the second quarter, when he raised more than $18 million. It also puts him behind Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the July-September period. Perry, who entered the race in August, raised $17 million in the third quarter.

Perhaps feeling the pressure to match his GOP rival, Romney announced his latest fundraising figures in a press release that combined his second and third quarter totals in the headline: "ROMNEY RAISES MORE THAN $32 MILLION FOR PRIMARY." The release also points out that when he ran for president in the 2008 election cycle, Romney only collected $10 million in the third quarter of the primary season.

Romney for President national finance chairman Spencer Zwick called the $32 million "just the start of the effort to help fuel Mitt Romney's message that will defeat President Obama next November."

Romney also reported collecting donations from nearly 56,000 supporters in all 50 states in the third quarter -- a 73 percent increase from the second quarter.