BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, facing one of his toughest election fights in years, has used his campaign coffer for legal bills in an ongoing criminal case nearly as much as he's paid for more typical expenses like advertising and campaign events.

Since he was easily re-elected four years ago, Odom has raised about $781,000 in campaign contributions, and spent $317,000 of it on legal expenses — more than 40 percent of the total raised for his campaign war chest in the last four years.

Odom said the costs of his legal battle haven't taken away from his ability to mount the type of campaign he wants heading into the Oct. 20 primary election. He said he'll start his TV ad campaign statewide on Monday, with ads running until election day.

"I've been able to do everything I've needed to do," he said Friday.

Odom, a Democrat from Zachary, is seeking his eighth term. He has three Republican opponents.

The agriculture commissioner has been battling criminal corruption charges since August 2002, when he was indicted on 21 counts. The case was whittled away over the years, and a state judge dismissed all remaining charges in the bribery and theft case earlier this year. Prosecutors have appealed that ruling, asking for the case to be reinstated.

Prosecutors say Odom traded state contracts for campaign donations and personal gifts and used campaign cash for personal expenses. They alleged Odom was bribed by warehouse owners wanting food storage contracts, that he had state-owned pine seedlings planted on his property and that he laundered campaign money through his church in Zachary to pay personal expenses.

Odom denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers called the indictment an unfounded personal attack designed to force the commissioner out of office.

A month after Odom's indictment, the Louisiana Board of Ethics — in a 5-4 vote — ruled Odom could use his campaign funds to pay for his defense in the criminal case because the charges were related to Odom's public office.

In 2003, Odom won re-election with 66 percent of the vote despite the indictment and after attracting only one challenger.

But since then, Odom's gotten into several high-profile political scrapes with Democrat Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Republican Treasurer John Kennedy.

Several officials and lawmakers complained about his use of agriculture department employees on construction projects and his push to build state-financed sugar syrup mills whose financial feasibility was questioned. One sugar mill was built, but state officials scrapped the second mill proposal.

Critics have accused Odom of using his office like a personal fiefdom and amassing too much power since he took office in 1980 — all accusations Odom denies.

But the criticism attracted new opponents for the agriculture commissioner's job, opponents who say Odom can be beaten.

Odom faces three Republican opponents: state Rep. Mike Strain, a veterinarian from Covington, East Baton Rouge Parish Councilman Wayne Carter and Don Johnson, a north Louisiana farmer and crop-duster who lost to Odom in 2003 and 1995. They talk of cleaning up corruption and refocusing the department's mission.

"Our mission is to restore integrity to the office, give a major boost to our agricultural economy by utilizing new technologies and working with our farmers, and put an end to taxpayer-subsidized boondoggles," Strain said in a statement.

Odom said he's confident he'll be re-elected without a runoff, though he said this race is costing him more than his last campaign and he's doing more fundraising.

"I got more candidates than I had last time around," Odom said.

Despite the legal bills, Odom is still well-financed. When he won re-election in 2003, he had more than $600,000 remaining in his campaign account, and in the latest round of campaign finance reports due this week, Odom reported having $570,243 on hand.

In their reports to the ethics board, Carter reported having $555,068 to spend, and Strain reported $790,656 in campaign cash available. But both have plowed their own money into the campaign.