BUFFALO, N.Y. — With the sudden resignation of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in May, a handful of candidates were on short notice to build their war chests.

"I think if you can raise and spend $5 million in an attorney general's race, that will probably make you competitive," GOP political analyst and state campaign veteran Vic Martucci said.

Several candidates have already crossed the million dollar threshold according to the most recent campaign finance reports. Among them is the lone Republican Keith Wofford, a managing partner at global law firm Ropes and Gray.

"He obviously has relationships with people who are able and willing to make contributions and as I said, I'm sure that had a lot to do with party leadership's decision to endorse him," Martucci said.

The Democratic-endorsed candidate Tish James also raised more than $1 million and has just short of that available moving forward. The analyst said James, as a public advocate, likely doesn't have the same network of benefactors as Wofford, but does have another advantage.

"I would think that of all the candidates in the race, she's going to have the least trouble raising money because she'll have the organization behind her and the infrastructure, the financial infrastructure of the organization to help her raise money," he said.

Current Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney crossed the million dollar fundraising mark just five weeks after initially announcing his candidacy and while it's not indicated in his report, claims to have more than $4 million on hand, probably from his federal coffers.

"If he has a four to one lead right now in terms of dollars in the bank, that makes him a serious contender," Martucci said.

He said progressive Zephyr Teachout, who's brought in a little more than half a million, was never expected to raise as much as her opponents.

"She wasn't able to raise a lot of money when she ran for governor last time so that's not surprising," Martucci said.

Leecia Eve, with $250,000 available is also lagging behind, but he said, in her case, organizational structure may be more important than money.

"Leecia Eve, I believe, is going to be counting on and can count on the support of the Clinton New York organization. Leecia Eve worked for Hillary Clinton and I believe she has the support of many of Clinton's former New York staffers," he said.

The analyst pointed out, in a low turnout primary, anything can happen. He said with a roughly two-to-one enrollment advantage, whichever Democrat wins will be a heavy favorite in November.