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MILWAUKEE - Two candidates. One seat. Dozens of TV ads. It's not the race for the White House. It's for the 8th District State Senate seat. Four-term Republican State Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) says she's worked hard to protect taxpayers. "I have a very strong record in accomplishing what my constituents find most important: the economy, growing jobs, controlling spending and taxes," said Darling. Democratic challenger Rep. Sheldon Wasserman (D-Milwaukee) says he has saved taxpayers a bunch of money too. "I take the Badger Bus to Madison," said Wasserman. "I've been riding that bus for 14 years. I've saved $25,000 of taxpayer's money." TODAY’S TMJ4’s Charles Benson: "Campaigns can get nasty. Do you feel this one has turned nasty?" "Absolutely," said Darling. "My opponent is not dealing with the truth. He said I raised the gas tax. I didn't." "My opponent has run only negative commercials," said Wasserman. "It's amazing to me that this person with such a big record can't even talk about her record." Wasserman has put $250,000 of his own money into his campaign and expects to spend about $800,000. Darling has not put in any of her own money in but expects to spend half a million dollars making this potentially the most expensive State Senate race ever. "I hope my record my strong record plus relationships that I've developed over the years with thousands of constituents will bring me to the finish line," said Darling. "I also have 1,200 individual donors and those donors want me to win. They made a contribution, I should make that contribution," Wasserman said. This race has also seen its share of robo calls by Darling from talk show conservatives Mark Belling and Charlie Sykes. Both candidates face off in a debate Wednesday night at Concordia University. The 8th District covers parts of Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties, as well as North Shore communities in Milwaukee County and several small parts of the city of Milwaukee.