A young Democrat Wednesday announced his intent to run against state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe next year for the right to represent the 12th District in Harrisburg.

Zack Byrnes, 24, of Evans City, who is expected to be unopposed in the Democratic primary in the spring, said he knows it will be a tough task to unseat the six-term Republican.

Byrnes said he will announce his candidacy officially Nov. 1 at the Butler County Democratic Fall Event at the South Butler Fire Hall.

Byrnes, a 2003 graduate of Butler High School, knows a thing or two about government. He studied the subject and got a degree in government at Cornell University before he moved back to the county and became the director of development and communication for the nonprofit Blind Association of Butler and Armstrong counties.

He said constituents of the 12th District deserve a representative who will work under a spirit of cooperation, not one who continually makes divisive statements and alienates himself from those who disagree with his policies.

"Over the past several years, (Metcalfe) has spent most of his time focusing on issues he's done very little about," Byrnes said. "I feel that he's forced himself into a position where he's inefficient as a legislator, and he's simply not getting the job done."

Though a controversial figure widely considered one of the most conservative state legislators, Metcalfe, who first won election in 1998, has enjoyed relatively easy re-election campaigns. He defeated Democratic challenger John Olesnevich in 2008 by garnering 67 percent of the votes compared to Olesnevich's 33 percent.

He also beat Democratic candidate Linda Schoettker in 2002 by taking 67 percent of the vote. Metcalfe ran uncontested in 2004 and 2006.

Those kinds of statistics don't scare Byrnes, however. He said a positive approach and a stance against a negative campaign will show voters he has every intent to run an honest and effective office if elected.

"I know politics get negative a lot, and I want to avoid that," he said. "I think my chances are pretty good, especially because I have a much more moderate stance than a lot of Democratic candidates in the past."

Byrnes said he'd immediately draft legislation to cut the size of the Legislature to curb excess spending by the government. He labels himself a fiscal conservative striving to rid waste and corruption from state government, and he also advocates every state legislator paying a 5 percent contribution toward his or her health care benefits.

Byrnes also said "government is about government, not politics" and that he wants to "work for what everyone in the community wants and not spend so much time bickering about partisan political issues."

He hopes to build a bipartisan coalition to support his candidacy, but he knows there is a lot of networking and campaigning to do before next year's election.

"I'll be knocking on a lot of doors," he said. "It's going to be a very grassroots effort."

Metcalfe said there is a lot of time between now and next year's elections and that he is focused on many other issues besides potential candidates.

"Right now I'm focused on helping turn people out to vote this year," Metcalfe said. "I'm encouraging people to make sure they make it out to vote in these very important local elections here. After that I'll continue to work hard on behalf of the constituents of the district and citizens of Pennsylvania to work to reduce state spending and taxes and protect traditional family values."