ALAN SUDERMAN
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The candidates in a special election that will determine which political party controls the state Senate are spending big money and throwing sharp elbows.

Recently filed campaign finance records show that Republican Ben Chafin and Democrat Mike Hymes have each raised more than $700,000 for their campaigns.

Both have spent heavily on television advertising, particularly on attack ads.

The special election for the 38th District, which stretches across several counties in the heart of the economically depressed coal country in southwest Virginia, is set for Aug. 19. The winner will fill the seat most recently held by Democrat Phil Puckett, whose sudden resignation in June for a possible job with the Virginia tobacco commission is the subject of an FBI investigation.

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