Bill Neff, candidate for the state Senate seat in the 13th Legislative District, on Sunday did what any Republican would do two days before Pennsylvania's primary election.

He and his wife, Barbara, left on a 10-day "religious pilgrimage" to Europe with about 50 other members of St. Peter's Church in Columbia, according to his campaign consultant, Shelley Castetter.

"He was campaigning right up until a half hour before he left, and then he handed me his cell phone and the keys to his car and said, 'Shelley, you're in charge,'" Castetter said.

"He planned this long before he got into the (election) race and he didn't want to let the other people in the group down by backing out.

"It was a difficult decision for Bill to go, but he's not afraid to let everyone know that he puts God first in his life."

It will be up to Castetter and a handful of Neff's campaign volunteers to carry Neff's message to the voters in the 13th District during these last few hours before the polls open at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

The other three candidates vying along with Neff Tuesday for the GOP nomination to replace retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong are former Lancaster County commissioner Paul Thibault, Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds Steve McDonald and West Lampeter Township Supervisor Lloyd Smucker.

The winner will face Democrat Jose Urdaneta, who is unopposed in Tuesday's election, in the general election in November.

Thibault, McDonald and Smucker were busy Sunday making more traditional plans than Neff for the runup to Tuesday's election.

Thibault held a pre-election rally at his home on Wheatland Avenue in Lancaster Township for campaign volunteers and supporters.

McDonald met with members of his campaign team to prepare for a day of going door to door today in Springettsbury Township, York County.

The 13th District covers eastern York County, southern Lancaster County, Lancaster city and Manheim and Lancaster townships.

And Smucker said he was planning to work the phones today, making random calls to residents of the 13th District.

Because Smucker, McDonald and Thibault all are or were elected officials, all have prior experience running election campaigns.

But nothing they've done before compares to the current race they're in, they agreed.

"This is definitely the most competitive race I've been in since 1994," said McDonald, who campaigned unsuccessfully in 1994 to unseat state Rep. Mike Sturla in the 96th District.

While McDonald has taken and thrown his share of punches in the race for the 13th, most of the sparring has been between Thibault and Smucker.

Through mailers and television ads, Smucker has ripped Thibault for claiming to be a fiscal conservative when Lancaster County's level of debt increased dramatically during Thibault's eight years as a county commissioner from 1996 to 2003.

Thibault said Smucker's ads "essentially" called him a "liar."

"The attack ads were just egregious," Thibault said. "They crossed the line."

Thibault's camp has blasted Smucker for receiving the lion's share of his campaign finances through contributions from local builders and construction-industry political action committees.

Smucker will be beholden to the special interests of that industry if he's elected, Thibault has charged.

"These are the accusations of a man who is desperate because he is behind in the polls," Smucker said.

Statewide, a large voter turnout is expected Tuesday due to the hotly contested race for the Democratic presidential nomination between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

None of the voters choosing between those candidates will have an impact on the race for the 13th because the contest there is for the GOP nomination.

All four candidates plan to have volunteers working at polls throughout the district.

E-mail: preilly@lnpnews.com