Jeff Pyle

Incumbent Pennsylvania House Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-60th, defeated Green Party candidate Gabe Lytle, according to unofficial election results from Tuesday’s voting.

The 60th District includes Buffalo and Winfield townships in Butler County as well as portions of Armstrong and Indiana counties, with a total population of 61,450.

In total, Pyle won 23,106 to Lytle’s 3,512, including unofficial totals from the 41 precincts in Armstrong County and seven in Indiana County. Pyle received about 87 percent of the vote.

In Butler County, Pyle won 4,614 votes, and Lytle won 624.

Pyle said he is grateful for those who voted for him, admitting he had not done significant campaigning.

“I’m very thankful. You never really know going into the election how it’s going to turn out,” Pyle said. “We really did not campaign real hard. We just put some signs out, and I think that’s a mark of people acknowledging the work. They trust in me with their vote, and I commit to them that I’m going to give my best effort every time, any time they call.”

While Pyle could not say if the national election helped him, he said he is certain it was a driving force in what he saw as a larger voter turnout locally.

“The national election brought out what I think will show record numbers of voters,” he said. “People came out in gigantic numbers ... they had a feeling one way or another and folks wanted to be heard. That’s what this election proved. Truthfully, I wish everybody would get out.”

Pyle has already identified what he hopes to work on with his next term.

“Property tax has to be looked at,” Pyle said. “The state pension issue has to be dealt with. And opioids — this thing is just tearing families apart. It doesn’t really discriminate between Republican, Democrat, Independent. We’ve made a couple of baby steps toward it, but I think there’s a lot more that could be done.”

Lytle, 21, from Manor Township, Armstrong County, had little to say Tuesday night.

“The only comment I could say I have is I could say that I got over 13 percent of the vote and only spent $97 on my campaign,” Lytle said. “I am absolutely proud of the percentage of vote that I got ... and I would like to run again in the future.”