CRANBERRY TWP — Gordon Marburger has said he will work for Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s re-election, and Metcalfe has accepted his primary foe’s endorsement, but nobody would mistake this for a political hug.

“If I’m asked, I’ll work for Daryl for the good of the Republican Party,” Marburger said. “But I don’t think Daryl would want my help.”

Asked if he would vote for Metcalfe come Nov. 4, Marburger replied, “That’s private.”

For the record, Metcalfe said, “I would certainly welcome and appreciate Gordon’s support in the fall, like any other voter in the district.”

However, he acknowledged the two probably would not do any campaign appearances together.

The lingering bitterness of their rough primary-election battle in the 12th Legislative District is still evident.

The two haven’t spoken since the eight-term incumbent captured the GOP nomination over his upstart challenger.

But Marburger has spoken to Lisa Zucco, Metcalfe’s Democratic rival in the fall election. And the two plan again to talk about the election.

Many believed the Republican primary would be a walkover for Metcalfe since Marburger ran a write-in campaign, a nearly impossible path to the nomination.

That decision came after the state Supreme Court removed Marburger from the GOP ballot, ruling he failed to file the necessary financial disclosure papers to run for office.

But despite the David-versus-Goliath odds for him, Metcalfe won a relatively close race, 3,276 to 2,706 votes, according to the Butler County Elections Bureau.

The 12th District covers Adams, Clinton, Cranberry, Forward, Middlesex and Penn townships, and Callery, Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia.

The challenger’s campaign theme was that Metcalfe has neglected local issues such as roads and other projects in his pursuit of capturing headlines over national issues such as gay marriage and immigration.

The challenger’s showing even seemed to surprise the incumbent, who had gotten use to coasting to primary and general election victories with marginal or no opposition.

“I would hope,” Marburger said, “that what happened (May 20) would serve as a wake-up call for Daryl.”

Metcalfe, in part, blamed dirty tricks by Marburger’s supporters for what happened at the polls.

“They couldn’t run against me or my record so they had to make stuff up and lie,” the incumbent said. “Their campaign was all about lies and deception.”

Metcalfe of Cranberry Township also cited organized labor, historically the political ally of Democrats, for mucking up the GOP primary.

“Gordon must have made them a lot of promises because they sure laid out the money for him,” Metcalfe said.

As many as a dozen union-backed political action committees contributed nearly $40,000 to Marburger’s campaign in the final weeks, according to the challenger’s latest campaign finance report.

“I did not solicit them,” Marburger said of the unions. “None of them ever endorsed me. They sent money to my campaign.”

He acknowledged the unions possibly were attracted to his campaign because of his public support of the $2.3 billion transportation package the Legislature passed last fall.

Most of the money for that will come from a hefty hike in the state gasoline tax. Metcalfe vehemently opposed the bill that Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, signed into law.

That law, strongly endorsed by labor, was a key issue in the GOP primary in the 12th District.

Marburger of Adams Township said the plan was the only one on the table that would fund vital road construction in the district.

Metcalfe argued taxes are already too high and called for reduced spending.

“In my opinion, the union support was not so much about getting Gordon elected than it was about getting Daryl tossed off the ballot,” said Ed Natali, chairman of the Butler County Republican Committee.

Metcalfe is at the top of organized labor’s hit list in Pennsylvania, Natali said, due to his support of school-choice, right-to-work and paycheck protection legislation — all issues opposed by unions.

Labor’s emergence in the 12th District primary became a focal point of negative ads by the Metcalfe camp.

The campaign turned personal and exposed an ideological divide in the party, Natali acknowledged.

The political makeup in Cranberry, which dominates the district, is “unique,” he said.

Cranberry, where Republicans hold a 2-to-1 voter advantage over Democrats, is largely divided into two camps — a hard right-wing led by Metcalfe and a more moderate wing typified by Bruce Mazzoni, chairman of the township supervisors and an early backer of Marburger.

“These two groups seem to be pushing back and forth for power,” Natali said.

Keeping the intraparty rivalry in check is not an easy task, especially after a difficult race, like in May.

“You get in these primary elections — they are hard-fought battles,” he said. “But once they’re over, everyone has to accept the results and work together to elect Republicans.”

He said during the committee’s reorganization meeting June 16, he sounded that same message.

“Gordon made a strong effort in the primary and that should be recognized,” Natali said, “but now we have to make sure Daryl gets elected.”

However, Marburger apparently did not get that memo, at least at first.

During their post primary meeting May 23, Marburger and Zucco of Cranberry discussed their campaigns and more.

“He offered me a lot of advise,” Zucco admitted, but she would not elaborate.

Marburger characterized that advice as nothing more than generally accepted campaign truths.

“Things like the importance of knocking on doors because money doesn’t do it all,” he said, “and keeping visible.”

Metcalfe seemed to take in stride the specter of his former fellow Republican opponent offering counsel to his current Democratic opponent.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “They both have some of the same players in their campaigns.”

He would not name names of those “crossover” supporters, only calling them “tax-and-spend liberals.”

The first-time candidate Zucco admitted she initiated the meeting with Marburger, during which she asked for his endorsement.

“He’s an involved, upstanding, lifelong citizen of our district who really cares about the community, as do I,” she said. ”Community is what my campaign is all about.”

Marburger was noncommittal on the Democrat’s outreach. Instead, he told Zucco he would get back to her. He suggested another meeting.

Since then, he decided to publicly support Metcalfe. But, Marburger said, he still plans to meet with Zucco again.