Radio and television ads are airing. Campaign signs are popping up like perennials all over the county. Barbs are being traded.

Pennsylvania's April 22 primary election is just two weeks away, and the four Republican candidates seeking the GOP nomination to replace retiring state Sen. Gib Armstrong are ramping up their campaign efforts.

"I'm out there earning votes one at a time," businessman Bill Neff of York County said. "I'm willing if voters are able."

Along with fellow Republicans Steve McDonald, Lloyd Smucker and Paul Thibault, Neff is vying for the seat in the 13th state Senate district, which covers eastern York County, southern Lancaster County, Lancaster city and Manheim and Lancaster townships.

The winner of the GOP nomination will square off in the general election in November against Democrat Jose Urdaneta, who is uncontested in the primary.

In their bid to secure the GOP nomination, the four Republicans seem to be urging voters to choose the most fiscally conservative. All are claiming the title in their campaigns.

"I'm the only candidate with a proven record of fiscal conservatism in office," said McDonald, of Manheim Township, who is the county recorder of deeds.

McDonald maintains in his campaign literature that during his 10 years in office he has "cut the size of government, we've reduced costs and we've saved taxpayers well over $1 million."

In that time, McDonald has automated many of his office's functions and reduced the staff from 18 employees to nine. Still, according to county records, his office's annual budget grew from $562,273 in 1997 to $746,492 last year.

"For him to claim that he has reduced spending is just plain untrue," said Thibault, of Lancaster Township, a two-term county commissioner who served from 1996 to 2003.

McDonald argued that his office's annual budgets would have been much higher had he not reduced the staff and implemented the automation.

That's where the savings lie, he said.

Thibault said that if McDonald wants to consider his annual budgets as evidence of his fiscal conservatism, then, in a roundabout way, his opponent is endorsing him.

"Spending within a department is not set by the officeholders, but rather by the commissioners," said Thibault, whose service as a commissioner overlapped  McDonald's years in office from 1997 to 2003. "As a commissioner, I would have voted to allocate the spending by that office, and if Mr. McDonald says he is a true fiscal conservative because of his budgets, then I thank him for that compliment."

If he is elected, Thibault said his goal in office would be to help the state government "find its sense of priorities."

Spending under Gov. Ed Rendell has grown by nearly $7 billion over the last four years, yet there never seems to be enough money to fix roads and bridges or to pay for education, Thibault said.

"It is literally unsustainable," he said.

Uncontrolled spending in Harrisburg is exactly why the 13th district doesn't need a "career politician" representing it, said Smucker, a businessman and West Lampeter Township supervisor.

"We need someone with business experience who knows how the decisions made in Harrisburg affect us in the real world," he said.

Smucker said he has been telling voters how he has operated a "successful business" and how as a West Lampeter supervisor he has helped the township "meet the challenges of rapid growth without raising taxes during my term."

Smucker has been a supervisor the past three years.

"I'm the only candidate with that combined experience," he said.

Still, Smucker has drawn fire from his opponents and from local political watchdogs for claiming in February that he raised $185,000 in two weeks but refusing to identify who donated that money prior to the April 11 campaign finance reporting deadline.

"I'll be happy to share that information on April 11," Smucker said Sunday night.

The furor over Smucker's campaign-fundraising claim is the reason Neff said he's largely using his own money to pay for his run for office.

"I don't want to be beholden to anyone," he said.

Neff said he has set a contribution limit of no more than $25 per person, and as of Thursday he had received just three checks for $25 apiece.

"I'm not asking for handouts," he said. "I've just been out asking questions and listening to people."

He said he wants to see all property taxes "abolished" and replaced with "a straight tax for everyone to pay on their personal income."

E-mail: preilly@lnpnews.com