County Recorder of Deeds Steve McDonald, saying voters in the 13th Senatorial District are ready for change, announced Wednesday he'll run for long-time state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong's seat in the 2008 Republican primary.

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Republican Steve McDonald made his 2008 bid for state Senate official Wednesday, saying he feels residents are ready to vote out incumbent Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong.

"You have to fight the status quo and the establishment that keeps people like Gib Armstrong in power," McDonald, of Neffsville, said during a telephone interview. "I'm going to stand with regular citizens of the district and fight that."

McDonald, who has served as Lancaster County's recorder of deeds since 1998, said he would unveil his platform Saturday morning during a news conference, but on his new Web site — www.mcdonaldforreform.com — he's pledging to take no perks, pension or pay raise.

Armstrong, one of Harrisburg's most influential GOP lawmakers who's held the 13th Senatorial District since 1985, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

He said in August he would announce by the end of the year whether he would seek re-election.

Armstrong has not faced a Republican primary challenger during his career as a senator. He's now a member of the Senate Republican leadership, having served since January as the Appropriations Committee chairman.

A lot has changed since Armstrong ran for re-election three years ago. The hotel/convention center he has championed in downtown Lancaster for eight years is under construction, he has ascended to a high post in the Republican leadership in Harrisburg and this year he helped lead a successful GOP stance against a wide range of tax proposals Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell proposed to raise revenue.

However, a strong anti-incumbent movement in 2006 swept three Lancaster County lawmakers out of office, including Armstrong's son, former state Rep. Gibson C. Armstrong. The elder Armstrong also came under fire last year by the Republican House delegation for some of the tactics he used in writing laws beneficial to the hotel/convention center.

He also backed two candidates in the Republican primary this year — Charlie Smithgall for county commissioner and Gerry Robinson for county judge — who were not endorsed by the local GOP. Smithgall and Robinson lost.

"I don't think he's gotten distant from the voters," said G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin & Marshall College's Center for Politics & Public Policy, pointing out the thousands of economic development dollars Armstrong has funneled to his district.

"But this is a fertile environment for upsets," Madonna said. "The political environment is very unstable."

And then there's the 2005 legislative pay raise.

Harrisburg lawmakers voted themselves a 16 to 54 percent pay hike in 2005, then overturned in response to widespread outrage among their constituencies. Voters ousted two former Republican leaders, Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubilerer and Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill, both of whom supported the pay raise.

Armstrong voted for the pay raise but paid back what he received before the repeal.

Madonna pointed out how the anti-pay hike, anti-incumbent fervor ran stronger in rural, Republican strongholds compared to urban and Democratic areas.

The diversity of the 13th District — which includes Lancaster city and wide swaths of rural southern Lancaster County and three rural municipalities in York County — also would likely play a factor, Madonna said.

"We are in the hot seat of the anti-incumbent movement," Madonna said. "It literally resides in central PA. I won't say it's as strong as it was … but it does exist.

"You would have to sit back and say Armstrong is favored to win, but how much anti-incumbency feeling really exists?"

McDonald said the sentiment continues to thrive among voters he has talked to.

"It was apparent after what we saw in the last election cycle that people wanted change," he said. "They don't want business as usual. They want reform."

Campaign finance likely will factor into this race as well. According to the last report Armstrong filed with the state, he has $198,965 in his war chest. In comparison, his Republican colleague, Sen. Mike Brubaker, has $22,220 in his account.

And McDonald may not be the last Armstrong challenger. Several Republican names are filtering through the local rumor mill, although none has declared an intention to run.

Madonna said if more than one challenger goes after Armstrong's seat, it would likely split anti-Armstrong voters, which would "work to Armstrong's favor."

E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com