Eric Lach September 20, 2010, 1:09 PM

American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, outside groups backed by GOP heavy-hitters Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, raised $14.5 million in the 30-day period ending Sunday, bringing their fundraising total this year to $32 million, according to the Associated Press.

Both groups have launched attack ads on Democrats around the country. Back in April, American Crossroads announced they had $30 million in fundraising pledged toward their $52 million goal. And while the early numbers were small, the group has since taken off.

In July, Salon’s Justin Elliott reported that most of the money then raised by American Crossroads had come from just four billionaires.

The latest figures, made available to the AP, “place the two Crossroads groups on track to meet their goal of $52 million by Election Day, and put them on virtually the same financial footing as the National Republican Senatorial Committee.”

In an interview the Wall Street Journal, President and CEO of American Crossroads Steven Law spoke against President Obama and other Democrats concerns about the effect of the Citizens United decision on political fundraising.

“You don’t see large publicly traded businesses rushing pell-mell into overt political activity, and I think its unlikely to happen,” Law said.

Then he compared corporate donations to unions: “unions not only invest dramatically more in politics but they do it very publicly, and in a very sophisticated and intentional manner. After the 2008 election Andy Stern of the SEIU boasted that they had gone $10 million in debt to buy more TV ads. There’s not a public corporation in America that could get away with doing that,” he said.

According to the AP, American Crossroads is due to file its August fundraising with the FEC today.

American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS, Ed Gillespie, Karl Rove