If a quarter-million is the ante in the high-stakes poker game that is the Republican race for the 13th state Senate district, Steve McDonald is more than a quarter of the way in.

McDonald, who had a head start on the rest of the players, reported in the latest campaign expense reports that he took in almost $66,000 in cash and services through 2007.

The only other candidate to file a report in the 13th District race, Republican Paul Thibault, raised $9,000 in a little more than a month at the end of the year.

Some candidates in the GOP primary are guesstimating that they'll need about $250,000 each, if not more, to be competitive in the quest to replace retiring Sen. Gib E. Armstrong.

McDonald, the county recorder of deeds who announced his candidacy in September, raised $45,408 from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 last year. More than half of his money came in one contribution of $25,000 from Howard Rineer, who is retired from the H.C. Rineer & Sons Inc. oil dealership.

Of the remaining $20,000, $13,475 was from donors outside Lancaster County, including $5,000 from Bernie Owens of Baldwinsville, N.Y., and $1,500 from Montgomery County attorney Bob Guzzardi. The question of whether McDonald's financial support is mostly outside the 13th is an issue that his critics are already beginning to raise.

McDonald spokesman Seth Wimer said the fundraising "shows that Steve has the ability and capacity to pull in significant amounts of money in what promises to be an expensive, high-profile race."

He pointed out that McDonald raised the cash before Armstrong, the five-term incumbent, announced his retirement.

And, Wimer said of the sources of funds, "We raised this money while we were running against Gib. People inside the district were naturally more hesitant to give. That has changed dramatically."

McDonald also reported $19,500 worth of in-kind services from Sharp Creative, a marketing company in Pittsburgh. Wimer said company officials are friends of McDonald's who are looking to build their political clientele.

Thibault, the former county commissioner, reported that he raised $5,000 from Anne Gardner, another leader in Thibault's Friends of Better Government leadership PAC, and $2,500 from businessman S. Dale High of High Industries. Thibault contributed $6,299 to his campaign and paid Wilson Research Strategies $15,000. His consultant, Scott Migli, works for Wilson.

Republicans Lloyd Smucker, a West Lampeter Township supervisor, and Bill Neff, owner of a locksmith and security company, didn't form campaign committees until 2008 and so didn't have to file in the end-of-year cycle.

Another Republican candidate, Greg Sahd, withdrew from the race last week despite finishing first in the endorsement voting at the Jan. 22 GOP convention. Sahd said he plans to concentrate on his work with the county Government Study Commission.

Elsewhere in the developing 2008 election cycle, some lawmakers up for re-election were building war chests.

Rep. Scott Boyd, R-43rd District, who at one point considered running for Armstrong's seat, opened the year with $23,373, raised $45,431 through 2007, spent $39,787 and had $29,017 left for a re-election run in the 43rd. Boyd and his wife, Nancy, invested $25,000 of their money into the campaign. His biggest expense was $26,066 to consultant Churchill Strategies, the firm run by former lawmaker Jeff Coleman. So far, no one is running against Boyd.

Rep. John Bear, R-97th District, raised $30,705, spent $20,246 and ended the year with $11,593 (including his opening balance of $1,132). Bear put $10,000 of his own into the committee. Saturday, Democrat Matthew Elliott of Warwick Township was endorsed to run for the 97th seat.

In the 98th District, Republican Dave Hickernell opened with $22,378, raised $16,385, spent $19,833 and had a balance of $18,930; he also got an opponent Saturday in the person of Daniel Stephenson. And in the 99th, GOP Rep. Gordon Denlinger reported an opening balance of $22,834, donations of $736, expenses of $3,840 and a bottom line of $19,730. Denlinger is running unopposed at this point.

Reports weren't available late last week for Reps. Mike Sturla, D-96th District, or Bryan Cutler, R-100th District, both unopposed so far.

Two other GOP lawmakers who will have Democratic opposition in the fall, Reps. Katie True and Tom Creighton, weren't as flush. True, who will face Mountville Mayor Connie Guy in November, said her committee had a balance of less than $4,000 for her re-election run in the 41st District. And Creighton, of the 37th, with a fall rematch against Democrat Lee Heffner, reported opening 2007 with $10,093, raising $75, spending $829 and having $9,339 left.

In other expense news …
Former Lancaster County Commissioner Molly Henderson, who lost a re-election bid in November, terminated her campaign committee at the end of the year.

The Democrat wrote to the county elections office, in a letter dated Dec. 31, that she had forgiven the $67,025 balance of the $69,000 in loans she made to her campaign committee.

In addition to settling some end-of-campaign expenses, Henderson's committee paid the candidate $1,975 before she forgave the rest of the loan.

Another former commissioner, Dick Shellenberger, who did not run for re-election last year, has kept his campaign committee open for business, with $236 in reserve at the end of 2007.

Newly elected Commissioner Craig Lehman, a Democrat, reported $2,753 as of Nov. 27, $11,718 in donations, $6,292 in expenses and $8,179 in the bank at the end of the year. He received $2,000 each from High and Anthony Crisci of Harrisburg-based Crisci Associates, as well as $1,000 from Triad Strategies, a Harrisburg lobbying firm.

Lehman also filed amended reports for the previous two filing periods, adjusting the amount of interest income he received.

Republican Commissioner Scott Martin's individual committee — he and GOP running mate Dennis Stuckey also had a joint committee — reported $9,769 on Nov. 27, no income, $1,000 in spending and $8,769 left. Stuckey's individual committee started with $3,051, collected nothing, spent $949 and ended with $2,101.

And East Hempfield Township Supervisor Heidi Wheaton, who ran for commissioner in the 2007 primary, terminated her HeidiWheaton.com committee at the end of the year.

County Democrats, whose fundraising has been picking up over the last decade, opened with $51,542 on Nov. 27, raised $4,453, spent $13,426 and finished 2007 with $42,568.

Their Republican counterparts started with $33,079 on Nov. 27, raised $12,514, spent $16,604 and ended with $28,989. The party's biggest expense was $6,659 to the state GOP for payroll and $5,024 to lawyers Hartman, Underhill and Brubaker.

Sources said the legal bill stems from the ongoing lawsuit filed against the party by committeewoman Millie Max, who contends her civil rights were violated during the primary campaign when party leaders tried to keep her from working against endorsed judge candidates Howard Knisely and Jeffery Wright, both of whom won.

Oral arguments on a party motion to dismiss the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia were heard Jan. 25. A ruling is expected later.

Warming to Hillary
Local supporters of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Lanc4Hillary organization distributed pamphlets outlining Clinton's platform on global warming at a Wednesday, Jan. 30, presentation by climate change activist Lance Simmens.

The next Lanc4Hillary meetings are Feb. 29, March 28 and April 18 in the Park City Center community room, on the upper level of the Kohl's entrance. For a copy of the pamphlet or to get campaign news, contact Rebecca Lyttle, lanc4hillary@gmail.com.

Delegation doings
• State Sen. Mike Brubaker, R-36th District, spoke to national leaders in agricultural and rural issues about the state's Keystone Innovation Zone program at the recent 2008 U.S. Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit in St. Louis, Mo. Brubaker is serving a two-year term on the board of State Agriculture and Rural Leaders Inc., which hosts the summit.

• Rep. Creighton has designated his 37th District offices in Manheim and Denver as dropoff locations for the Lions Recycle for Sight Program. "Instead of throwing your old eyeglasses out or in a drawer, drop them off at one of my offices and know that some deserving person will see better because of it," Creighton said.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 47 Market St. in Manheim or 323 Main St. in Denver. For more information, call 664-4979 or 336-2199.

Study commission meets
The Lancaster County Government Study Commission will meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, in the county courthouse, Room 502, to continue drafting a home rule charter.

So far, the draft charter includes 10 sections or "articles." Tuesday, the group will discuss Article V: Budget and Finance and Article VI: Initiative and Referendum. Voters will be able to approve or reject the finished charter in the November election. For more information and a schedule of meetings, check the Web site, www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lancastergsc.

Political potpourri
• The "Capitol Ideas" blog by (Allentown) Morning Call reporter John Micek was reporting last week that Bucks County Chief Operating Officer David Sanko has withdrawn from consideration for the Republican endorsement for state auditor general.

That would leave former Lancaster County GOP chairman Chet Beiler as the sole candidate, at least at this point.

Beiler would say only, "It appears the endorsement for auditor general is quite likely next weekend. But, as we all know, anything can happen in politics, so we will have more conclusive information at the Feb. 9 winter meeting of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania."

As it happened, Auditor General Jack Wagner, who's seeking a second term, was in town Saturday, keynoting the county Democrats' endorsement convention. He noted, "I hear my opponent may be from Lancaster County, and that's a good thing. That's OK. I want to lay out my record for auditor general."

• Friendship Community Family Support Fellowship will sponsor a meeting with local legislators to discuss the needs of people with developmental disabilities at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, at the West Bethany Chapel of Landis Homes, 1001 East Oregon Road, Lititz. Friendship Community is a nonprofit Christian organization serving 130 people with disabilities in residential settings. For directions, visit www.landishomes.org or call 656-2466, ext.106.

• The most popular guy at the county GOP convention Jan. 22 had to be Sen. Brubaker, who kept starving committee members energized with cookies, chips and caffeine.

But given that the convention was held at Conestoga Valley Middle School rather than a hotel, as in past years, Brubaker was running not a hospitality suite but a hospitality classroom.

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