Republican Carly Fiorina raises $6.8 million since July

By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Carly Fiorina's campaign has raised $6.8 million since July, the campaign said on Tuesday - nearly quintupling the cash raised from her second quarter filings. Before two standout performances in the Republican debates, Fiorina, a former Hewlett Packard chief executive, had struggled during the spring to round up enough cash to stay in the race. She had spent months languishing at the bottom of the polls, but has since moved into second or third position in most surveys, thanks in part to her highly praised willingness to take on Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Although Fiorina's fundraising haul has greatly improved - she raised just $1.4 million for her campaign and $4.8 million for her Super PAC, CARLY for America, between May and June - she remains far behind some of her Republican rivals. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who now trails Fiorina in the polls, brought in more than $100 million in the first half the year. While Republican Ben Carson, a fellow political "outsider" who remains ahead of Fiorina in most polls, reported a third-quarter haul of more than $20 million. Fiorina has $5.5 million in cash remaining going into the last three months of the year, her spokeswoman, Sarah Isgur Flores, said in a tweet thanking supporters. As the campaign moves closer to seeing votes cast in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, candidates will begin spending more heavily for television advertising and voter outreach. Cash-flush contenders like Bush will be able to flood the airwaves in the crucial early states, and some have already begun reserving airtime in key regions. Fiorina's surge in the polls after the last debate and her position as an outsider who has never held public office before have helped her to save much of her campaign cash. But if the other candidates begin spending more heavily, Fiorina will likely to be forced to respond - and being at the top of the pack makes her a more likely target. (This story has been refiled to change day in the lead to Tuesday from Wednesday) (Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Additional reporting Alana Wise; Editing by Sandra Maler)