State Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-60th, said he will run for his ninth term in office this year.

Pyle, who has represented a district that includes parts of Butler, Armstrong and Indiana counties since 2004, serves as the chairman of the House Liquor Control committee and is the current leader of the Second Amendment Caucus.

He also served as vice chairman of the Environmental Resources and Energy, Transportation, Gaming and Appropriations committees, and has been endorsed for 16 years by the Pro-Life Federation.

Pyle points out he never voted for a sales or income tax increase and opposes charging gas and oil extraction companies a severance tax.

He said he is a “driving force” in the effort to establish a Butler County Community College campus in Ford City.

Pyle's support of volunteer firemen and emergency services earned him their Legislator of the Year award in 2015. He also credits his work on last year's EMS bills that strengthened EMS/ambulance services.

He said he serving citizens is his highest priority and he doesn't allow his staff to ask people seeking assistance about their political affiliation.

“I absolutely forbid asking a person's political party. That doesn't matter and asking will get you fired. When someone comes or calls, they have a problem and our job is to fix it. Period,” Pyle said. “If we do it right, they re-hire us. That's how representative government is supposed to work.”