Republican presidential candidate Rubio raised $6 million in third quarter: source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio raised $6 million in the three months ended on Sept. 30, a source said on Thursday citing campaign officials, down from the $12 million the Florida senator raised in the previous three months. Rubio campaign officials shared the figure with some top donors in Las Vegas, according to the source, who attended the gathering. The campaign officials said July was a tough month as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Ohio Governor John Kasich joined the Republican race for the party's nomination for the 2016 election. August was always expected to be slow because many donors were on vacation, the officials said. Walker has since dropped out, but there are still more than a dozen candidates in the crowded Republican field. The source quoted officials as saying the campaign finished the third quarter strong and raised over $1 million online alone in September. They added that October was the campaign's best month so far. Rubio has raised about $18 million from nearly 100,000 donors since starting his campaign in April and started the fourth quarter with about $11 million cash on hand, the source said. (Reporting by Peter Cooney; Editing by Sandra Maler)