Tom Ervin raised more money and spent more, but William Herlong deferred spending in their House District 24 Republican primary to hold the edge in available cash, campaign finance reports filed Monday showed.

Reports from Bruce Bannister and Warren Mowry, the other two candidates, weren't available.

The four men, all attorneys, are seeking the seat of former House Speaker David Wilkins, who resigned June 2 after 25 years in the Legislature to become U.S. ambassador to Canada.

His would-be successors' reports were to be filed with the state House of Representatives' Ethics Committee in Columbia.

Ervin reported raising $46,125, including $10,000 he loaned his campaign. With expenditures of $29,477, his cash on hand totaled $16,647.

The reports were filed as Ervin launched a round of television ads. His opponents have said they have no plans such ads.

Herlong listed donations of $35,254 and available cash of $35,150 after spending $104. His personal contribution was $104, according to his report.

Each of the four contenders is a lawyer, although Mowry now heads the Criminal Justice Department at Greenville Technical College.

The primary election will be Aug. 14 and a runoff, if necessary, Aug. 30. The general election for the balance of Wilkins' two-year term is set for Oct. 4.

Ervin's major donors included his wife, attorney Kathryn Williams, $2,000; and attorneys Holly Atkins of Columbia, David Pearlman of Charleston, the Leventis and Ransom Law Firm of Columbia, and Greenville lawyers Doug Patrick, Robert Hoskins, the Fant and Gilbert Law Firm, and Brian Murphy, all of Greenville, $1,000 each.

Herlong's top donors, at $1,000 each, were Scott and Melissa Anderson, William Foster, William and Ranette Gaffney, Jeffrey K. and Nancy Giguere, Helen and Robert Hughes, C. Dan Joyner Enterprises, Barry J. Lynch, David R. Pangraze, Donald and Mary Ridgell, Marshall W. and Connie Walker, Wida Properties, all of Greenville; and Neil and Joy Grayson of Taylors, James E. Herlong of Saluda, and Amick Processing Inc. of Leesville.

The four candidates will make at least two joint appearances Aug. 1, although the formats haven't been determined. The first will be at noon at the monthly meeting of the Greenville GOP's First Monday Club.

That evening, the quartet will make their pitches to members of the Greenville County GOP executive committee at the Verne Smith Auditorium at Greenville Technical College.

GOP officials expect fewer than 5,000 of the district's 23,000 registered voters to turn out.