Steve McDonald bought the grand champion market hog at the Solanco Fair Friday night.

"I figured we'd better keep the pork down on the farm and not let it go to Harrisburg," he told more than 80 supporters Saturday.

But McDonald himself wants to go to Harrisburg.

He's aiming to replace veteran state Sen. Gib E. Armstrong there.

McDonald, the county recorder of deeds, got a head start on 2008 by announcing Saturday that he's seeking the Republican nomination for the 13th Senatorial District next year.

Sounding a theme of "Real Reform, Real Conservative" and criticizing what he termed a Harrisburg culture of "perks, pensions and pay raises," McDonald said he's running on his record of cost-cutting and technological innovation in the recorder's office.

After the 2006 primary, which swept dozens of incumbents out of office in the wake of the 2005 pay raise, voters thought change was coming, McDonald said: "Sadly, Harrisburg doesn't seem to get the message yet."

McDonald is taking on a big challenge, assuming the five-term senator runs. Armstrong chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful in Harrisburg, and had almost $199,000 in his campaign treasury in May.

And other Republicans are thinking about the 13th too — most notably state Rep. Scott Boyd, R-43rd District.

"Competition is good," Armstrong said Saturday. "... It's good to get a report card on what I've been able to do and not do."

"We need to send the next wave of reformers to Harrisburg to finish the job," McDonald said, "and I'm prepared to lead that fight."

Blasts from the past
At the Risser family farm in Manheim Township, McDonald had the most novel pair of endorsers of recent political history: former county commissioners Jim Huber and Brad Fischer, who left office in 1996.

They're the last fiscal-conservative commissioners, McDonald said.

McDonald, Fischer said, reduced staffing in the recorder's office by 60 percent over nearly 10 years in the job, saving taxpayers more than $1 million.

Huber cracked the obvious joke: "Thanks for coming out today — old McDonald and the farm."

Both Huber and Fischer lost to Armstrong in the 100th state House district — Huber in 1976 and Fischer in 1978.

With cows lowing a few feet from the white tent set up in a farm field, McDonald said he's running "to inspire my Republican colleagues to a greater cause — the cause not of self-interest but of public service."

"Republican politicians in Harrisburg" have "misled us down a path of higher taxes and bigger government."

He said the 2005 legislative pay raise would be a key issue.

Armstrong voted for the pay raise, but he said Saturday that he never took the extra money and did not take a paycheck for six months, until the raise was repealed.

McDonald pledged that he will not accept pay raises, per diems, radio or TV ads paid by the state, a state pension or "lavish perks," such as a taxpayer-funded vehicle lease. Armstrong pointed out that in the Senate, taxpayer-paid cars no longer are permitted.

Harrisburg culture hasn't changed, McDonald said, because the latest state budget — Armstrong was one of the negotiators — is still "rife with waste and giveaways to special interests, mostly to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh."

McDonald ran for the 96th state House seat in 1994 and for county commissioner in 2003. He is serving his third term in the recorder's office, and McDonald pointed out that he is not taking a county pension either.

He and his wife Lisa and their children, Donovan and Mackenzie, live in Neffsville and attend Grace Brethren Church in Lititz.

"A philosophy of 'real conservative' government says that we should run government more frugally — kind of like we run our household," he said.

Out of the blocks
In his speech, preceded by a video biography, McDonald said the timing of his announcement was affected by the leak to the media of a letter he had sent to friends in July about his Senate run.

"It changed our plans a little," he said, "but ... it was definitely a blessing in disguise" because of the expressions of support that followed.

Political etiquette usually dictates that campaign announcements for the following year must wait until after the current election.

"It's awfully early," Armstrong said, adding that he would wait until after Nov. 6 to announce his plans.

"It has made it easier for me to raise money," he said.

"It unfortunately takes the focus off the election this fall, which I think is what we're still all about," county GOP chairman Dave Dumeyer said. "... Our focus can't be on trying to fight battles that far down the road or even picking up sides at this point."

The 13th District includes southern Lancaster County, the city, Manheim Township and part of York County.

McDonald said he will be asking for party endorsement. He didn't commit to dropping out if he's not endorsed: "We'll let that process happen."

Asked whether a run by Boyd, setting up a three-way race, might make beating Armstrong more difficult, McDonald said, "Change in Harrisburg will come when we have people who aren't part of the status quo."

Boyd wasn't available for comment Saturday.

As for Armstrong's war chest, McDonald said he's not fazed: "If people were voting on who spent the most money, Chip Brightbill and Bob Jubelirer would still be there."

Senate leaders Brightbill and Jubelirer were the two highest-profile incumbents ousted after the pay raise.

Is the raise still an issue? "Whether it still has legs or not, I don't know," Armstrong said. "We'll see."

"All you needed to do," McDonald said, "was ask at the Solanco Fair."

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Helen Colwell Adams is a Sunday News staff writer. E-mail her at hcolwell@lnpnews.com, or phone 291-4962.