On Monday, Obama reported bringing in about $20 million during the same period, with at least $19 million of that for the primary elections. He reported 93,000 new donors.
Obama has tried to use his fund-raising success as a shield against national polls, which show him trailing Clinton, and as an argument against Clinton's inevitability as the nominee.
Both candidates have now raised about $80 million each since the beginning of the year. Obama still leads Clinton in money he can use during the primaries, raising nearly $75 million to her approximately $62 million - a figure that does not include the $10 million she transferred from her 2006 Senate campaign. Clinton has raised more money than Obama that can only be used for the general election campaign.
Their money sets them apart from the rest of the Democratic field and supplies them with resources to run lengthy and expensive campaigns.
"These two candidates have exceeded all expectations," said Stephanie Cutter, a Democratic strategist and the communications director for John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "It would take a significant shift in the field or a catastrophic world event to change the dynamics in this race."
Clinton's fund-raising has been remarkably steady from quarter to quarter, showing no dips or spikes and underscoring her methodical approach to the contest. Her third-quarter success came amid a scandal involving one of her top fund-raisers, Norman Hsu, who turned out to be a fugitive from the law. As the case against Hsu mounted in early September, the Clinton campaign returned $850,000 to 260 donors whose contributions were associated with him, much of it money raised in the first and second quarters.
Former senator John Edwards, lumped in a cluster with Obama and Clinton in polls of voters in the first-caucus state of Iowa, raised a distant $7 million in the quarter. He has said he plans to accept public financing that could boost his overall fund-raising by about $10 million. He reported having $12 million cash on hand.
The cash-on-hand figure will be a key measure of strength as the campaigns head into one of the most expensive stretches. Neither Clinton nor Obama reported how much money they had left in the bank.
