Former Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) said he raised more than $550,000 in the first quarter of this year in his bid to return to Congress representing the new Orlando-area 9th district.

“We are doing something special. Our campaign model shows that you can raise money and win elections without having to sell out to special interests or the lobbyists,” Grayson said in a statement. The campaign said it raised the massive haul from almost 12,000 contributors.

Grayson spokesman Todd Jurkowski said the campaign didn’t yet have a firm sense of how much cash on hand it ended the quarter with.

Grayson is the likely nominee in the new strongly Democratic district that would have voted 60 percent for Barack Obama in 2008. He faces no primary challengers.

Osceola County Commissioner John Quiñones (R) announced his candidacy for the seat Monday and will battle a few other Republicans for the GOP nomination.