Republican Steve McDonald's early entrance into the race for state Senate apparently paid dividends: a $65,000 jump-start in what is expected to be an expensive and hard-fought primary in the 13th District.

McDonald raised $65,508 in cash and in-kind contributions between mid-May and the end of 2007, campaign finance reports provided by his campaign this morning show.

"As you can see, with almost $70,000 raised in total before the end of last year, I am ready to run an aggressive campaign," McDonald said in an e-mail.

McDonald, the county's recorder of deeds, is one of only two Republicans among those seeking retiring Sen. Gib Armstrong's seat who raised money in 2007. The other, former county Commissioner Paul R. Thibault, joined the race late in the reporting cycle, on Dec. 15; he raised $9,000 and spent $15,299 in the last weeks of the year, spokesman Scott Migli said.

The two other GOP candidates in the contest, Bill Neff and Lloyd Smucker, launched their campaigns this year and were not required by the Department of State to file reports by today's 5 p.m. deadline.

The reports filed by McDonald and Thibault provide the first glimpse into what is expected to be a costly primary contest, running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars because the local GOP failed to endorse anyone, leaving an open primary.

McDonald was the first to announce his candidacy for Armstrong's seat, by sending a fundraising letter to family and other potential supporters on July 17. At the time, Armstrong had not yet publicly announced his intention to retire at the end of this year. He did so only in December.

McDonald, of Manheim Township, raised $45,407.77 in cash and spent $29,605.65 in the last half of 2007, leaving him with $15,903.57 on hand to begin 2008. He also received another $20,100 in in-kind contributions, bringing his fundraising total to nearly $65,508.

He got the bulk of his money — $39,325 to be exact — in contributions of more than $250, including a $25,000 check from Strasburg retiree Howard W. Rineer.

McDonald's other big contributions came from Bernie Owens ($5,000), who lives in Baldwinsville, N.Y., and is self-employed; Leo LaCascia ($2,500), who lives in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and is self-employed; Bob Guzzardi ($1,500), an attorney, conservative political activist and philanthropist who lives in Ardmore; Jay R. Reynolds ($1,000), who lives in Willow Street and is self-employed; and Terrence Farrell ($1,000), a Chester County commissioner.

McDonald's campaign also received $600 from Robert L. Bensing, a former Republican committee chairman from Ephrata who died later in the year, and 40 more contributions of $250 or less.

In a prepared statement McDonald spokesman Seth Wimer pointed out that the campaign raised the money before Armstrong announced his retirement.

"It's worthwhile to remember that this money was raised while Steve was running a campaign against an incumbent, the Senate Appropriations Chairman," Wimer said. "Even under the toughest circumstances, Steve was going to have the resources to win.

"Now, in an open primary, the job of raising money becomes easier," Wimer continued. "While the other campaigns are still gearing up, Steve has the fundraising apparatus in place to be well financed throughout the primary season."

The $20,100 in in-kind contributions to McDonald's campaign came largely from Pittsburgh-based Sharp Creative, to develop Web presence and overall messaging and theme development. Its work was worth $19,500, according to McDonald's report. The remaining $600 came from Lauxmont Farms in Wrightsville, for room rental.

McDonald's report listed $4,270 in debt to Sharp Creative, for printing direct mail.

Smucker and Thibault's campaign indicated their campaigns were raising adequate sums that would be reflected on the next round of reports, due in mid-March.

"I'm excited that our campaign is up and running; and we've built a great team," said Smucker, a business consultant from West Lampeter Township. "I'm humbled and excited by the amount of early financial commitments our campaign has received. Based on that generous support, we are going to have no trouble raising the funds necessary to run an effective campaign."

Migli, Thibault's spokesman, said in an e-mail, "...Our fundraising is going VERY well and will show in our next report."

Thibault, of Lancaster Township, brought in five contributions: $5,000 from Anne Gardner, a Lancaster Township committeewoman; $2,500 from S. Dale High, chairman of High Industries; and $500 each from John Mullineaux; Frank Orban; and Michel Orban.

Thibault spent $15,299, mostly on office supplies, postage, and research and consulting from Wilson Research Strategies, and listed $6,299 in debt at the end of the year.

Neff, who is campaigning partly on campaign-finance reform, said he does not intend to raise or spend a lot of cash — about $5,000 — trying to get the nomination.

"I'm running in atypical fashion," he said. "I'm definitely a voice in the wilderness here. It's totally against my principle, putting a lot of money into campaigns. Right there is one of my issues, campaign finance reform. Until we change that, nobody's going to be able to go the Capitol with a clean conscience."

For more information, see Tom Murse's blog, "Capitol Punmanship,"

CONTACT US: tmurse@LNPnews.com or 481-6021