HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The stepbrother of Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Rob McCord accuses the Democrat of telling "half-truths" by portraying himself as the disadvantaged child of a single mother.

Daniel Silver of State College wrote in a letter to PennLive.com that McCord, who is state treasurer, fails to mention on his campaign website and in his TV ads that his mother remarried when McCord was still a boy. Silver said McCord's stepfather loved McCord and raised him as a son.

"To fashion a voter-friendly brand that portrays him as a disadvantaged child of a single mom and supposedly overcoming great odds ... McCord has told half-truths and dishonored the man he called 'Dad,'" Silver wrote. "Rob neither mentions or even acknowledges the profound contribution his Dad made on more than half his childhood. ... Why do we care? It's about character. A governor should have some."

McCord's campaign fired back, saying McCord mentioned he had a "great stepfather" in an April 2 interview with the PennLive editorial board.

"I was raised by a single mom from the time I was four to the time I was 13. And I got to admit, by the time I was 11, I was lucky. By the time I was 15, I was fantastic. And she married a great stepfather and my dad, who was a pretty epic character himself, became a great divorced father," McCord said in the interview.

Silver wrote that McCord's mother, who divorced McCord's father when the boy was 4, remarried when he was 10.

"Is McCord being technically accurate saying he was raised by a single mom? Perhaps, for some period of time. Is he being forthright and telling it like it is? Not even close," Silver wrote.

McCord is one of four Democrats running for the nomination to take on Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.