Newt Gingrich raises impressive $9.2 million in fourth quarter

Newt Gingrich has raised $9.2 million with three days to go before the end of the financial quarter, his campaign told The Hill.

The fourth-quarter haul is significant and will allow him to stay in the race even if he doesn't have a strong finish in Iowa, where his poll numbers have sagged badly in recent weeks. Gingrich had slipped to fourth place in the state in the most recent poll, conducted for CNN and Time magazine.

The fundraising total is a major improvement from the $800,000 he'd raised in the third quarter, and while it falls short of the $17 million Rick Perry brought in at the start of his campaign and the nearly $14 million Mitt Romney brought in during that period, it gives him enough money to stay competitive.

It's unclear how much money he has on hand, however — spokesman R.C. Hammond declined to give that figure, and Gingrich's campaign had more than $1 million in debt at the end of the last quarter, which has reportedly not yet been paid off in full.

The fundraising quarter began Oct. 1 and runs through the new year. Campaigns must report their fundraising totals by mid-January.

Gingrich spent $1 million on television advertising in Iowa this month, while some of his rivals and the outside groups backing them have spent close to $4 million apiece on ads, many of them attacking his record.

The former House Speaker enjoyed a brief turn at the top of the polls and is still close to Romney in national polls, but his support has plummeted in the early-voting states.