In a state where a Senate campaign can cost more than $30 million, a prospective New York Senate candidate’s fundraising prowess is seen as key to political viability.

That is certainly a factor New York Gov. David Paterson is mulling as he considers whom to appoint to replace Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pending her confirmation this month as President-elect Barack Obama ’s secretary of State.

Paterson has made clear he wants to pick someone who will be able to defend the seat in a special election in 2010.

It is the ability to build a huge campaign treasury that has also helped propel Caroline Kennedy — who boasts name recognition, personal wealth, and political connections but little direct legislative experience — to the top of the list of contenders for the post. Kennedy points to her experience as an executive in the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Strategic Partnerships, where she’s been credited with helping raise $65 million in private funds between 2002 and 2004, as one of her qualifications for the seat.

Kennedy is not the only one vying for the Senate seat, however, who has demonstrated fundraising clout.

Among the list of contenders, Reps. Kirsten Gillibrand and Joseph Crowley and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo lead the way in money raised and/or donated in the 2007-08 election cycle.

Gillibrand, who was elected to her second term in the Republican-leaning 20th District in November, has established herself as powerhouse fundraiser during her short time in Congress. She raised a whopping $4.7 million for her 2008 election campaign, ranking her 11th among all House candidates, according to Federal Election Commission records through Nov. 24. Gillibrand also donated more than $374,000 in campaign funds to Democratic Party committees. She has eschewed fundraising via a leadership political action committee, which many other members of the House and Senate use to augment their political funds.

Crowley, who unlike Gillibrand did not face a competitive race in 2008, raised a combined $2.6 million through his campaign and PAC in the last election cycle. Crowley, the chief deputy whip in the House, handed out a good portion of those funds — $725,000 — to help other Democrats.

He also ranked among the Democratic Congressional Committee’s top member fundraisers in the 2008 election cycle, according to an internal committee records through Nov. 20. According to those records, Crowley — who harbors higher leadership aspirations — raised or contributed a total of $7.3 million for the party committee and candidates in competitive races, behind only Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Majority Leader H. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Majority Whip James E. Clyburn of South Carolina.

As for Cuomo, a search of New York State Board of Elections records show his attorney general campaign committee, Cuomo 2010, raised $3.5 million between May 2007 and July 2008, more than two years before the 2010 election. Reports for the second half of 2008 have not been filed.

And Cuomo, like Kennedy, has the kind of political lineage that can be a fundraising asset — his father, Mario, was New York’s governor from 1983 to 1995.

Other elected officials on Paterson’s short list can also point to solid fundraising records as they attempt to sell themselves to the governor.

Rep. Steve Israel , the five-term congressman out of Long Island, raised $1.7 million between his campaign and PAC in 2007 and 2008, and made $342,000 in contributions. More notable is the $2.1 million Israel helped raise or contributed to the DCCC through Nov. 20.