Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson raised $642,857 for his U.S. Senate campaign in the year’s third quarter, according to a campaign press release. The Republican U.S. Senate candidate filed his finance report today with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and has raised a total of $1,245,992 to date with more than $1 million on hand.

“My heartfelt appreciation goes out to the thousands of Kentuckians who have enthusiastically endorsed my candidacy with their time, talents and financial contributions,” said Grayson. “Our positive message focusing on the needs of our commonwealth’s economy and the need for returning fiscal responsibility to Washington is clearly resonating with Kentucky voters.”

Grayson’s primary opponent, Bowling Green ophthalmologist Rand Paul, however, announced earlier this month that he raised more than $1 million during the quarter, which was the second-best performance by any candidate in any quarter thus far. Once considered a long-shot by political observers, the Paul campaign contends that being able to raise that amount of money makes him a viable candidate despite the fact that Grayson polls better.