Demcoratic Rep. Kathy Hochul’s campaign is reporting she’s raised $516,718 in the second quarter of 2012, giving her more than $1.2 million in cash on hand.

It’s a pretty significant amount of money, especially for a Democratic freshman in a deeply Republican district.

Hochul’s campaign says since her special election kick off, she’s had nearly $3 million in fundraising.

She’ll likely need most, if not all, of that money in fending off what is expected to be a stiff challenge from former Erie County Executive Chris Collins.

Still, Democrats are quietly optimistic that Hochul will be able to copy her upset victory from the 2011 special election against Republican Assemblywoman Jane Corwin.

Then, as it is for this current House campaign, Democrats are pushing the Medicare funding issue and Rep. Paul Ryan budget hard.

“After raising more than half-a-million dollars, Kathy Hochul has both the independent record and the resources to run a strong campaign this fall,” said Frank Thomas, Hochul’s campaign manager. “The fact that this money came from thousands of individual contributors over the last three months is yet another indicator of the groundswell of support building behind Kathy that is going to carry her to victory in November.”

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