Republican Rep. J. Gresham Barrett raised more than $300,000 to run for governor of South Carolina since announcing in early March that he is in the 2010 race for the post.

Barrett, who is forgoing a bid for fifth House term to run for governor, announced in a release Thursday morning that he pulled in $371,000 in receipts for his campaign in the first quarter of the year, and ended March with more than $1 million in cash on hand.

Said Jim Dyke, the campaign’s senior adviser, “The fact that Gresham was able to go out in what everyone would agree is a challenging fundraising environment and raise, in three weeks, what most candidates would hope to raise in three months is a sign that he is right on the issues.”

Barrett’s haul topped that of state Attorney General Henry McMaster, a likely opponent in the Republican primary for governor, who told The State newspaper in Columbia Wednesday that he raised $287,000 in the first quarter of 2009. McMaster also said he has more than $1 million in campaign cash reserves — ostensibly for a 2010 Attorney General race, but which could also be transferred to a campaign for governor if he opts to get in that race.