METHUEN — In an opening salvo in his attempt to unseat state Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, D-Methuen, Chris DiBella said Campbell needs a map to find her way to the Statehouse.

DiBella, a Democrat who is challenging Campbell in the Sept. 16 Democratic primary, said a flier should begin arriving in residents' mailboxes today which he claims exposes Campbell's lack of time on Beacon Hill.

The DiBella campaign said Campbell collected a $58,236 salary and spent only 41 days on Beacon Hill in 2007. He cites the official list of reimbursements to representatives for travel to the Statehouse as his source.

His flier shows a photograph of Campbell next to a map and says, "Send this map to Linda Dean Campbell so she can find her way to Beacon Hill."

Campbell bristled at the accusation.

"Like many reps, I don't file many of my travel vouchers because I simply do not have the time to fill out the paperwork," she said.

Campbell called DiBella's method of using the optional travel vouchers as evidence that she was in the Statehouse 41 days "very dishonest and insulting to the people of Methuen."

"I have taken approximately 600 votes in the House of Representatives and I have a 99.6 percent voting record, and those two votes that I missed out of the 600 were simply procedural," she said.

Campbell said she works seven days a week between the Statehouse and events, meetings and office hours in Methuen.

DiBella, an attorney, said "people can read between the lines."

"Yes, she's proven she can show up to take a vote, but she has not attended to the extent that is necessary to be successful to bring more back," he said.

Lawmakers can get reimbursed for the miles they accumulate going back and forth from the Statehouse.

Most legislators fill them out "when they have time," Campbell said.

DiBella said he wouldn't want to be reimbursed for his commute because other state workers don't get that perk.

Campbell fired a shot of her own.

"This is the third time that he has run for public office in the city of Methuen. In between elections, he is nowhere to be seen," she said. "He doesn't attend public hearings and we do not see him at the organizations he claims to be involved with in terms of volunteerism."

"I'm involved in a business group in Methuen ... I'm constantly helping people in a variety of different legal capacities as well as on a daily basis," DiBella said.

DiBella lost a bid for the City Council in 2005 and ran against Campbell for state representative in 2006, in which Campbell prevailed by 192 votes. Campbell is seeking re-election to a second term. She succeeded longtime Rep. Arthur Broadhurst, who did not seek re-election.

"He is obviously going to run a very negative campaign and this mailer is a very dishonest mailer and it is insulting to the people of Methuen," Campbell said.

"This is fact slinging, not mud slinging," DiBella retorted.

The DiBella campaign said Campbell voted against a plan to post lawmakers' votes on the Internet.

"I have no concern or problem with that, it might have been due to the fact that we take 600 votes and it might have been cost prohibitive," Campbell responded, saying she didn't recall the specifics of the legislation.

DiBella accuses her of voting against local aid increases for Methuen nine times, "resulting in a loss of more than $7.7 million for property tax relief, education, public safety and senior programs."

"In this (year's state) budget, local aid to Methuen quadrupled," Campbell said.

"You had nine additional opportunities in a time where our mayor has been on the record saying we need additional aid, and you voted against it," DiBella said. "She could have brought back more."

DiBella claims that Campbell voted for "wasteful pork spending." His ad says she voted to spend $2.2 million in taxpayers' money for two golf courses and another $1.6 million for projects in other communities, including "$50,000 for a merry-go-round in Holyoke" and "$150,000 for a study of the winter moth worm."

He also accuses Campbell of voting against "a key initiative," which DiBella said was the casino bill, "that would have created 20,000 new jobs and generated millions of dollars in new revenue." He also said she voted against "an additional $15 million for our children's education, including crucial funding for textbooks and computers" and voted against "millions of dollars in tax relief for seniors."

Campbell said she succeeded in securing state funding for several programs in Methuen, including $1.2 million more for the schools. She said she plans to send out her own mailing soon.

The winner of the primary will face City Councilor Joseph Leone, a Republican, in the November general election.