New television commercials added heat Thursday to an already tense Republican primary for Lancaster County commissioner only five days from the election.

And during interviews after the ads ran, the four candidates — County Controller Dennis Stuckey, former county Youth Intervention Director Scott Martin, East Hempfield Township supervisor Heidi Wheaton and former Lancaster city Mayor Charlie Smithgall — accused one another of going negative.

"We're about getting our vision out, and it's fair to point out the records of the others running," Stuckey said about him and Martin, who are running as a team.

Wheaton ran her second ad of the week, this one taking the local Republican Party to task for endorsing Stuckey and Martin.

The ad says the same "old-boy party" that endorsed Stuckey-Martin helped elect Dick Shellenberger and Pete Shaub in 2003, two commissioners who publicly sparred on several issues after they were elected.

However, the local GOP did not endorse Shaub in that race, only Shellenberger. Also, Shaub donated $91.52 to Wheaton's campaign.

Wheaton said Republicans endorsed Shaub in 1999 when he ran the first time.

"He's part of the good-ol'-boy network," she said of Shaub. "He was endorsed, and they can't get away from that because there's a strong good-ol'-boy network in place."

Wheaton's ad also says Martin, if elected, would be a "rookie" in county government and Stuckey was negligent when $1.3 million in checks were not cashed last year from the county assessment office.

 "When someone can't detect over $1 million in cash (not accounted for) … it calls into question the ability of that person to do that job," Wheaton said. Stuckey is the "chief financial officer of the county. He also calls himself the fiscal watchdog of the county. … It points to a lack of oversight."

Stuckey said he had no oversight of the assessment department.

In response, Stuckey said the assessment office is under the direction of the county commissioners. Also, the director of the assessment office took responsibility for the problem.

Steps have been taken by the county treasurer, recorder of deeds and Stuckey to add checks and balances to avoid the problem in the future.

"This really is a desperate attempt to make personal attacks on candidates for public office without knowing the full facts," Stuckey said.

Martin disputed Wheaton's "rookie" claim by pointing to his 13 years working at the county Youth Intervention Center.

Stuckey and Martin released a commercial Thursday contrasting their professional records with those of Wheaton and Smithgall.

The ad says that Wheaton as a township supervisor in 2004 was the lone "no" vote on a motion moving East Hempfield forward in legal action against her husband, Paul Wheaton, for an alleged building code violation.

Wheaton acknowledged Thursday that she should have abstained from the 2004 vote, but she also noted that she was not charged with violating the state's ethics law.

The law prohibits elected officials from voting on matters that benefit themselves or their family.

She also said the township dropped its lawsuit against her husband two weeks ago because it "had no basis, legally."

The Stuckey-Martin ad also takes a swing at Smithgall's record as mayor, saying he left office in 2005 with a $7 million deficit and raised city taxes in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Smithgall said the tax increases mentioned in the commercial were an investment in the future and the characterization of the budget deficit was a "lie."

He did propose using $7 million from budget surpluses to offset any tax increase, but the final version — approved by Mayor Rick Gray's administration and the current City Council — altered the final number, drawing it down to $4.9 million and raising taxes.

"This isn't a personal attack," Martin said. "It's their record and should be part of the discussion."

Dave Dumeyer, chairman of the county Republican Committee, agreed.

"That is not an attack ad," Dumeyer said Thursday. "It's not dirty politics. When the name-calling started, it wasn't us who started it."

Dumeyer was referring to Wheaton's characterization last month of the local GOP endorsing candidates in primary elections as reminiscent of the Soviet Politburo.

Smithgall is running a commercial, but it does not mention the other three Republican candidates.

Instead, it features interviews with four people — three, Smithgall says, are friends of his — endorsing his bid.

"I'm staying positive," Smithgall said. "I'm not going negative. I can get ugly if I want, but I'm not going to."

E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com