When Paul Thibault asked June Mengel if she would host a press conference Saturday at her Strasburg Township farm, Mengel was doubtful.

"It's a rough farm," she warned Thibault. "… It's spring, and it's muddy, and we just had a silo built, and then there's the burn pile, and what about the manure?"

Thibault's response: "So? … It's farming; it's that time of year, and I understand."

As former state senator Noah Wenger put it, "Paul is not exactly a farmer"  —but he knows how to listen to farmers.

With the support of Wenger, former legislator John Barley, Fulton Township farmer Steve Graybeal and other familiar faces, even the manure smelled sweet to the Thibault campaign on Saturday.

But as the race for the 13th state Senate district enters the critical last two weeks before the April 22 primary, tensions are rising among the four Republican candidates, and so Thibault also used his farmland press conference to decry a mailing by opponent Lloyd Smucker that criticized Thibault's record as a county commissioner.

Earlier in the week, Smucker's record as a West Lampeter Township supervisor came under fire from county Recorder of Deeds Steve McDonald, who on Saturday also slammed the state Senate's passage of a $12.7 billion capital budget as "stealth budgeting."

The only Republican who wasn't involved in the swiping was businessman Bill Neff.

All four are seeking to replace Sen. Gib E. Armstrong, who is retiring this year. The winner faces Democrat Jose Urdaneta in November.

With the primary looming, Smucker and Thibault launched television campaigns, and Smucker said he took in another $20,000 from a downtown Lancaster fundraiser.

Thibault called on candidates to maintain "the high road" through the primary.

Of those who don't, Thibault added, "It's a sign of the kind of service you're going to give in the Legislature."

Down on the farm
At the farm owned by Jeff Hollinger and Mengel, the county's former director of farmland preservation, Wenger praised Thibault's support of agriculture.

Wenger, who retired from the 36th Senate seat in 2006, pointed out that the county was tops in the nation in the number of farms preserved while Thibault was a county commissioner.

It's more difficult to get ag-friendly legislation passed these days, he said, because fewer lawmakers have agriculture backgrounds. "So it's kind of important that we elect people that have an understanding and an appreciation and a respect for what is Pennsylvania's No. 1 industry."

Mengel said Thibault, who served on the county's agricultural preserve board for four years, was always available to farmers.

"I think that's key to his character," she said, "and that's the kind of person we need in Harrisburg."

Thibault was joined by Barley, GOP committeemen Graybeal and Scott Frantz, insurance executive Bernard Morrissey, former district attorney Mick Ranck and county Young Republican chairman Bill Coder.

After the event, Thibault said he was pleased to have the support of Barley, the former 100th District lawmaker, who's still popular in parts of the southern end despite resigning from the House in 2002 for unexplained reasons.

Thibault also addressed Smucker's mailing, saying it's "unfortunate" that "the attacks have started to come out" in the latter days of the campaign.

The mailer accused Thibault of raising spending and county debt levels as commissioner from 1996 to 2003.

"I've always been very open about my record," Thibault said. "... If there were issues to be brought before the voters, I think they should have been brought early and often.

"It is sad that now the distortions are coming out."

He suggested that Smucker's mailing "may be desperation on their part," since Smucker has less of a public profile than Thibault or McDonald.

"Paul Thibault challenged the public to look at his record, and that is what was done," Smucker responded. "The only desperate person is Mr. Thibault, because he doesn't want people to know he has a worse tax, borrow and spend record than Ed Rendell. Mr. Thibault's desperation also explains why he chose to start a negative campaign against me earlier this week – attacking me in the newspapers."

Capital punishment
McDonald, speaking Saturday morning after the Penn Manor Republican Committee breakfast at Willow Valley Resort, blasted the Senate's approval last week of a $12.7 billion capital budget as full of pork.

He pointed to a $15 million line item for a performing arts center in Lancaster, which he said county commissioners didn't even know about, as well as a soccer stadium in Chester, a new ballpark in Lackawanna County and a retail/entertainment complex in Harborcreek Township, as examples of out-of-control government spending.

Meanwhile, McDonald said, residents in the Letort area of Manor Township are faced with the expense of connecting to public sewer lines because of a state mandate, while PennDOT is trying to shift costs of signs on Route 272 to East Drumore Township and of storm water management on Route 472 to Colerain Township.

Those are the kinds of expenses the state should be underwriting, he said.

Referring to Armstrong's comments during the breakfast that he tries to make sure his constituents get their fair share of the government pie, McDonald said, "The pie is way too big."

Armstrong, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, fired back at McDonald, saying he doesn't understand the capital budget process.

"That's not even a pie — that's a wish list," Armstrong said. The capital budget "means absolutely, positively nothing, except to get something funded, you have to have it in the capital budget first."

All projects requested by lawmakers are included, he said. He didn't know who asked for the $15 million for a performing arts center.

"The next step is, you have to get it funded," Armstrong said. "That's the hard part."

Right now, he said, the state has no more capital money available, so chances of anything from the capital budget being funded are slim and none.

"You've got to understand the system," he said. "… Obviously, a very, very small percentage, if and when it happens, will be funded."

Wednesday, McDonald took aim at Smucker and Thibault during the Lancaster Rotary Club's candidate forum. McDonald spokesman Seth Wimer said afterward that county taxes increased 80 percent during Thibault's two terms, while spending rose 82 percent.

In West Lampeter, Wimer said, the township overspent its budget two years in a row. In a statement, McDonald's campaign called it "reckless spending."

Smucker also was targeted by anonymous mailings reproducing a newspaper article about West Lampeter's approval of two developments and alleging that Smucker "is in the pocket of the developers."

"I think the public knows that when mailers are sent anonymously and against campaign finance laws, as they carry no disclaimer, that they are also complete rubbish," Smucker said in response.

"Nothing in them is true, I can't believe that the newspaper would even deem them worth addressing, and I know the people of Lancaster and York counties are smarter than to fall for them."

On the air
Thibault and Smucker both launched air wars last week. Smucker's campaign said his was first up with ads in Lancaster and York counties. The 30-second spot, called "Time," touted Smucker's record of not raising taxes in West Lampeter and his business experience.

Thibault also was running commercials on WGAL-TV.

McDonald, though, said he isn't planning television at this point and will "deliver our message directly to the voters in the 13th District."

Neff has been focusing on his Web site, www.neff4senate.com, rather than broadcast media.

Smucker's campaign said in a statement that it had raised $20,000 at a reception Saturday evening at the Julia Schwartz Gallery downtown. Another, at Willow Valley Resort, last week drew 100 guests. Smucker said that fundraiser was a "low-dollar community event."

"In the coming weeks, I expect to receive the endorsement of important community leaders and groups to add to the momentum my campaign continues to build as we approach victory on Election Day," Smucker said in a press release.

Thibault picked up the support of Manheim Township Republican chairman Frank Fryburg, who wrote a letter to the editor last week criticizing Smucker's campaign for terming Thibault a "career politician."

"If our new senator is going to be able to play a significant role in bringing about further reforms in our state Legislature, he must arrive in Harrisburg with considerable stature," Fryburg wrote. "I submit to you that Paul Thibault is the candidate with the most political stature among the four candidates."

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