With barely a month before voters go to the polls, the expected heated rematch between incumbent U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire and former Rep. Melissa Hart is just beginning to show sparks.

Mr. Altmire, D-McCandless, who ousted Ms. Hart in what many considered a major upset two years ago, released a poll yesterday showing he holds a 54 percent to 42 percent lead in District 4, Pittsburgh's northern suburbs. Ms. Hart, a Bradford Woods Republican, conceded that may be the case since she didn't launch her campaign ads until this week.

After a meeting the candidates had with the Post-Gazette editorial board, Ms. Hart also accused Mr. Altmire of refusing to participate in more than one debate. Mr. Altmire said he agreed to several debates, but the candidates couldn't settle on dates when they were both available.

The poll was conducted by Survey USA for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call and involved automated surveys of more than 600 voters. It has an error margin of plus or minus 4 points.

Ms. Hart ran some critical campaign ads last winter and in early summer but said her media effort has been silent since due to a lack of money until this week. Her new ad criticizes Mr. Altmire for supporting several spending measures that she claims are inappropriate.

Ms. Hart said she expects her poll numbers to improve once her ads take hold. She criticized Mr. Altmire for using money from special interests to pay for his months-long media campaign, but he said he has received more money from individuals than Ms. Hart has for her entire campaign.

As far as debates go, she said more than a half dozen groups have offered to host debates. The only one scheduled so far is sponsored by the Beaver Chamber of Commerce Oct. 23 at the Penn State Beaver campus.

"He's ducking debates. He has yet to agree to any other debates, even though I said he can pick the dates," she said.

In a written statement, Mr. Altmire said it is "completely inaccurate" that he won't debate and accused Ms. Hart of being unavailable for a live, televised debate proposed by WQED-TV. He noted Ms. Hart was criticized for the lack of debates two years ago.

During the editorial board discussion, Ms. Hart criticized Congress in general for what she considered slow action on issues such as the economic crisis and domestic oil drilling and Mr. Altmire specifically for not supporting President Bush's surge in Iraq. Mr. Altmire claimed the roots of the economic crisis started before he took office, defended his record on pushing for energy alternatives and said he disagreed with the surge but always voted against cutting financing for the war effort.