State Auditor General Barbara Hafer, the leading Republican candidate for governor, called for an end to what she described as Gov. Robert P. Casey's fiscal irresponsibility during a speech last night at the Centre County Republican Committee's annual Lincoln Day dinner.

"This is a big-spending Democrat, that's what this guy is -- don't let him fool you," Hafer told the crowd of about 250 at the Elks Club in Boalsburg.

Hafer said Casey began his term with a surplus of $350 million and is now operating with a $119.5 million deficit. Such spending, combined with what she called Casey's weak leadership, leads to problems such as the $57 million price tag on last fall's Camp Hill prison riot, Hafer said, claiming that the second day of rioting occurred because Casey pulled out the state police.

"Government is not complex. You must understand the system and define the problem. If you don't have priorities, which this governor doesn't, you have the Camp Hills," Hafer said.

But Merle McCalips Jr., chairman of the Centre County Democratic Committee, said revenues may be short this year but he questions the figures of anyone claiming a deficit exists.

"That seems to be the Republican line this year, but I'd like to see the numbers to prove it," he said in a phone interview last night. "The government shouldn't be running huge surpluses either . . . if the surplus is too big, you aren't providing the services needed in the state."

The Republican Party is pointing to figures because Hafer has no other qualifications to focus the campaign on, McCalips said.

"When the Republicans are grasping at fiscal numbers, that's the game they play when they don't have any other cards," he said.

The key to accomplishing anything through state government is in those numbers, Hafer said.

"If you really want to change the system, if you really want to be the one talking about the issues and changing things, control the budget," she said.

Many were present to show their support, including U.S. Rep. William Clinger, state Rep. Lynn Herman, state Sen. J. Doyle Corman, District Attorney Ray Gricar, and Centre County Commissioner Vicki Bumbarger.