AUGUSTA — The gloves came off Monday in the Republican Senate primary after supporters of Susan M. Collins accused Robert A.G. Monks of “going negative” in a campaign press release.

Collins, a business advocate at Husson College in Bangor, is being challenged for the GOP nomination by W. John Hathaway, a Kennebunkport builder, and Monks, a Cape Elizabeth businessman.

Willis Lyford, Monks’ campaign manager, fired off a press release Monday morning while Collins was preparing for a State House press conference on campaign finance reform. Referring to a story that appeared last weekend in the Maine Sunday Telegram, Lyford charged Collins has a tendency to “commit bloopers” when touting her record and expertise on small business.

“This is the desperate ploy of a candidate whose campaign is going nowhere” shot back Michael Townsend, a Collins campaign spokesman. “The way he thinks he’s going to make a name for himself is by tearing down the other candidates. I don’t think Maine voters like those kind of tactics. … This is plainly and boldly negative campaigning.”

Lyford denied that the Monks campaign was “going negative” and insisted he was only pointing out some factual discrepancies in Collins’ campaign announce- ments.

“To assert that is hogwash,” he said. “The fact is [Collins’ staff] was sloppy and they shouldn’t have done it and they’ve acknowledged that. It’s not being negative when you responsibly point out the facts.”

Referring to the weekend paper’s report, Lyford said that a “seven-point” small business plan proposed by Collins on April 26 is really a “five-point” plan because two of Collins’ proposals were already in law. According to Lyford, the new legislation passed by President Clinton on March 29 requires federal agencies to provide “plain English” guidelines for new regulations and establish a period of time for new business regulations to be reviewed by Congress.

“Collins proposed the two as needed reforms at a Bangor news conference nearly a month later,” Lyford said.

The second “blooper” Lyford cited involved Collins’ voice-over narration on her television ad citing experience she gained while “heading the SBA.” In fact, Collins served as the regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington and that information appears in writing in the same ad. Lyford insisted the ad still implied Collins was the overall head of the SBA in Washington, D.C. He recommended the narration be revised to prevent voters from getting a “mistaken impression” of Collins’ experience.

Nicknamed “the spinmeister” at the State House for his ability to shape policy announcements while serving as press secretary for former Gov. John R. McKernan, Lyford warned voters to expect “more bloopers” from Collins in the weeks ahead.

“I hope that the voters and the media will pay close attention to what comes out of the Collins campaign, because in the closing weeks of a campaign, distortion and false claims can be misleading,” he said.

Timothy Woodcock, a Bangor City Council member who serves as Collins’ Penobscot County campaign chairman, said he too believed Monks was “going negative” — despite a pledge Monks took at a Kennebunk candidates forum where he vowed not to engage in negative campaign strategies.

“After spending a million dollars and having little to show for it, Monks has chosen a tactic of desperation,” said Woodcock.

The implication that Collins had intentionally lied about her record infuriated campaign workers at the candidate’s campaign headquarters. Michael Townsend, Collins’ communications director, said the candidate had been working on the small-business plan for several months before the initiative was enacted in March.

“Obviously we concentrate all of our energy on running for the Senate in Maine and not following every single piece of legislation that goes through in Washington,” he said. “We’re delighted those provisions have been adopted.”

Lyford said the Monks campaign became aware of the legislation through a memo from the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee which faxes Washington bulletins to all of the candidates.

“They want us to be up to speed on what’s going on,” he said.

Townsend said the “heading the SBA” characterization on the advertisement was simply a “word cut” to save time on the commercial.

“Because [the regional administrator reference] was so boldly printed right below at the bottom of the screen, it seemed obvious that we weren’t claiming she was the head of the entire SBA,” he said.

“The truth is the voice-over says `heading,’ so they don’t agree and that’s the basic problem,” Lyford countered.

The Collins campaign contends the message of the ad is clear and has no plans to change it.