Even as he surges ahead in the polls, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is struggling to get out from under a mountain of debt from luxury jets and other pricey expenses racked up in the early weeks of his campaign.

Creditors say Gingrich has begun paying back nearly $1.2 million in bills he owed at the end of September, and his spokesman says most will be taken care of by the end of the year. Other debts — including $42,000 owed to Gingrich himself for the campaign's use of a mailing list — have already been paid ahead of other vendors, according to aides and disclosure records.

Although campaigns often operate in the red, Gingrich's debts are unusually high — he spent nearly $3 for every $2 he raised. Mitt Romney, by contrast, reported no debt last quarter.

Nearly half of what Gingrich owed at the end of the third quarter was due to Moby Dick Airways, a private jet broker that has been waiting since June for more than $451,000 owed by the campaign. The company arranges private flights for GOP politicians, speechmakers and other public figures, and it earned more than $6.6 million in business from Gingrich's now-defunct nonprofit group, American Solutions for Winning the Future.

Gingrich's financial health could prove crucial as he attempts to hold on to his sudden lead over Romney and other Republican candidates in many state and national polls. Romney reported raising $32 million through September — more than 10 times the amount reported by Gingrich — allowing him to easily fund major advertisements and organizing efforts for early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Gingrich aides say he is catching up after a surge of fundraising in recent weeks, and the campaign launched its first television commercial Monday with a $250,000 ad buy in Iowa.

Other top creditors listed by the Gingrich campaign at the end of the third quarter were McKenna Long & Aldridge of Atlanta ($203,000), which Gingrich has used for legal services for years; High Tech Win of Austin ($91,000), which along with its parent company billed about $700,000 to the Gingrich campaign for website services; and CMDI ($50,000), a data-management firm.

One of the campaign's biggest creditors is Gingrich himself, who billed his campaign more than $125,000 for a mailing list and travel expenses, about half of which remained unpaid at the end of last quarter.

Romney accepts

Quayle endorsement

Mitt Romney accepted the endorsement of former Vice President Dan Quayle in Paradise Valley, Ariz., on Tuesday.

"Who's our best hope to take on President Obama? Mitt Romney," Quayle said, to the cheers of about 200 people gathered in front of the Hermosa Inn. Quayle, vice president under President George H.W. Bush, a role in which he was best known for a series of gaffes, has largely shunned the political spotlight in recent years. On Tuesday Romney agreed to talk this weekend with Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who has been needling him for weeks as the only Republican candidate unwilling to consent to an interview.

"You're going to see me on a lot more shows than I've been on in the last several months," Romney said. At the same time, Romney said he would not participate in a Dec. 27 debate to be hosted by businessman Donald Trump in Iowa. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, joined former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas in declining to participate.

So far, only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have said they will appear at the debate, which is being hosted by Newsmax, the conservative magazine and website, and will be broadcast on Ion Television.

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas has not yet said if he will participate. And Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is also undecided.

Seattle Times news services