Seeking his eighth consecutive term in office, Republican state Rep. Brian Ellis is facing independent challenger Samuel Doctor, a crane operator at AK Steel, in Tuesday’s general election.

Both candidates are Butler Township residents running to represent the 11th District in the House of Representatives.

“The issues that are important to Butler are the same that have been important for many years,” Ellis said.

Making the state more business friendly by not raising taxes and streamlining the environmental permitting process for development are among the initiatives Ellis supports.

“We’ve had an opportunity to oppose the job crippling taxes Gov. (Tom) Wolf has been pushing,” Ellis said. “We worked with legislators from across the Commonwealth for permitting reform so jobs don’t get delayed by permitting and streamlining the process to make it conducive for growth.”

A member of the House Ethics and Consumer Affairs committees and the chairman of the House Commerce Committee, Ellis said he would continue to focus on keeping tax laws fair for businesses and on opposing regulations that hinder opportunities for business development if he is re-elected.

He recalled the difficulty AK Steel had when it proposed building the electric arc furnace that was put into operation in 2011.

“AK Steel was looking to build a new furnace and expand. It took almost three years to get through the permitting process. That’s not acceptable,” Ellis said.

He was a co-owner of a family business, Ellis Automotive, before he was first elected in 2004.

Ellis said he and his wife Monica have two teenage sons, Justin, 19, and Nathan, 17. His wife works at Aetna Health Care in Cranberry Township.

Doctor said he truly is independent.

“I consider myself a nonpartisan. I take a look at each issue individually to come to a decision based on what I believe,” Doctor said.

He said addressing corruption and the appearance of improprieties in the legislature is his top priority.

“I decided I was going to run for office with the goal of offering some substantive options for reforms for corruption,” Doctor said.

He said he supports banning lobbyists from giving gifts to legislators, requiring lawmakers to submit documentation to receive per diem pay, changing the way legislative district boundaries are established and a constitutional amendment giving residents the right to recall all elected officials including the governor, legislators, county commissioners and school board members.

“Corruption is definitely a problem. What I really want to address is the appearance of impropriety. It can be just as bad as the real thing sometimes,” Doctor said. “We must meet the electorate halfway if the legislature wants their trust.”

While campaigning people told Doctor they don’t trust politicians.

“People think they’re a bunch of crooks. We must earn people’s trust and these reforms would help,” Doctor said.

His wife Devin is a nurse at Butler Memorial Hospital and they have a 2-year-old daughter, Evelyn, who suffers from hydrocephalus.