The campaigns of incumbent state Rep. Scott Conklin and Republican challenger Joyce Haas exchanged sharp jabs Monday, as the race for the 77th District state House seat turned more tense.

In a late-morning press conference, Haas, of Patton Township, questioned whether a state-funded newsletter mailing sent under Conklin's name was legal. She said a copy of the newsletter had arrived at 112 State St. in Harrisburg -- the state Republican headquarters.

But such newsletters, under state rules, are to be sent only to a lawmaker's constituents. Harrisburg sits well outside the borders of the 77th District, which Conklin, D-Rush Township, has represented since 2007.

"I can't understand why Scott Conklin is sending his taxpayer-funded mail to an address outside his district," Haas said, quoting a press release issued by the state GOP. "This mailer seems like a blatant attempt to use our taxpayer dollars to aid one of the races that he is running."

Conklin also is the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor.

Haas went on to suggest that Conklin has not made good on a pledge to be a reformer and clean up Harrisburg corruption. "Instead, he is continuing to perform the same sort of corruption," she said. "He has not cleaned up what is there."

Conklin campaign aide Tor Michaels, reached after the Haas press conference, said the arrival of the newsletter in Harrisburg had a simple explanation.

He said it had been sent to a man -- a "GOP operative" -- who has a listed address in Patton Township, which is within the 77th District. The state GOP's communications director, Mike Barley, later identified that man as Stephen M. Brame.

Because Brame had established the State Street address as his mailing address, the newsletter was sent there, Michaels said. The newsletters, dubbed "Legislative Report," outline current legislative initiatives and other updated state-government information.

Conklin's office has sent several so far this year, according to his House website.

Michaels said Conklin's office, as a matter of practice, did not and does not send mailers to people who are not 77th District constituents. He said the most recent mailing was sent Sept. 1 -- before a 60-day blackout period that leads up the Nov. 2 general-election day. (House members, because of fairness rules, are not allowed to send government-funded newsletter mailings in the 60 days before a general election.)

"They've been trying to give us grief for a mailer that they sent to themselves?" Michaels said. "This is just absolutely outrageous and goes to the core of why she (Haas) has no credibility with anyone."

Haas campaign aide Chris Buchignani, approached with Michaels' explanation, said he has "no reason to disbelieve" it.

But he also said that "I want my elected officials to assure me that they're leading from the front by at first cutting their own privileges," such as legislative newsletters.

Barley, reached in Harrisburg, said he still believes that the Conklin mailer's arrival on State Street "certainly doesn't pass the smell test." He said earlier Conklin newsletters had not arrived at the capital address.

'A Consolation Prize'

On a related front, Haas said that she, if elected, would follow the lead of other Republican lawmakers and stop sending the legislative newsletters by conventional mail. She estimated that each newsletter mailing that's distributed by postal mail in the 77th District costs $10,000 to $15,000. (An exact price for the most recent Conklin mailing was not immediately available late Monday from the state House Democratic Caucus, which processes those communications.)

Haas applauded efforts by lawmakers including state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, to send the newsletter mailings through electronic means. Haas also assailed Conklin for running for two offices simultaneously.

"He looks at the 77th House seat as a consolation prize," she said of Conklin. For him, she said, it is a "fallback position in the event he would lose as lieutenant governor. We deserve more. You as the taxpayers deserve more. I will represent you well in Harrisburg."

Michaels, asked to respond, said that the conventional mailers serve an important purpose, particularly in informing residents who are not Internet-savvy. He pointed to one recent mailing that outlined key points related to Marcellus Shale natural-gas drilling.

"It's about open government," Michaels said.

As for the "consolation prize" statement, Michaels said the 77th District remains Conklin's "first priority." If he is elected as lieutenant governor, it would present a "wonderful" moment for this part of the state, Michaels said. No one from the district has been elected to the state's executive branch in many decades, he noted.

Prospects for a Special Election

Another point of contention Monday: a special election.

Should Conklin be elected as both state representative and lieutenant governor, he has said that he would hold onto the lieutenant-governor job and give up the state House seat. He has said the House seat could be filled via a special election as part of the next round of primary elections -- at no additional administrative expense to taxpayers.

But Haas said Monday that it's not up to Conklin to decide when a special election would be held. And holding a special election, if scheduled separate of the normal primary-election date, could cost the government some $250,000, she said.

Joyce McKinley, director of the county elections office, said it's true that Conklin would not choose the special-election date. She said a directive on the timing of the special election would come from the Pennsylvania Department of State via the governor's office.

McKinley said the new governor would take office before that directive would be issued. "We don't arbitrarily schedule a special election," she said.

If Conklin is elected lieutenant governor, the new governor would likely be Dan Onorato -- Conklin's running mate.

Generally, McKinley said, the established practice is to schedule special elections on primary election days. She said she could not recall any local instances when that was not the case.