State Rep. Ted Harhai quickly rattles off the major issues he'd like to tackle if he wins a fifth term: property taxes, funding for senior citizen programs, improvements in education.

First elected to the state House in 1998, Mr. Harhai, D-Monessen, is running in District 58 against Republican Dr. Peter J. McConnell, of Belle Vernon, who is stepping into the political ring for the first time.

The district covers parts of Fayette and Westmoreland counties.

Mr. Harhai was a man of few words when asked about fixes for the issues voters face.

"Property tax reduction," he said. "I would like to see property taxes totally eliminated."

Is there a plan in the works to make it happen? He said he had no answer to give at the moment.

"I have a keen interest in [senior citizens]," Mr. Harhai continued, adding that he would like to see more funding for services to the elderly, but he offered no specific plan.

"I'm pro-life; I'm pro-gun," he said. "We don't need new laws on gun control. We just need to enforce the ones we already have."

What about education?

"Improvement. Better use of the dollars we have." How would that be done?

"I have no answer," he replied.

Does he support the anti-smoking ordinances cropping up around the state?

"I don't smoke, so I don't care," he said.

Other issues have garnered his attention, however.

He said he was working on two bills, one that would offer tax incentives to small businesses and one to include motor homes in the state's lemon law.

The House unanimously passed Mr. Harhai's bill over the summer to make it a first-degree felony if, in the course of manufacturing methamphetamine, a fire or explosion should occur. Should death result, those found responsible would be charged with second-degree murder. The bill is awaiting a vote in the Senate.

In September, he and another legislator secured $825,000 to cover the cost of a 250,000-gallon water tank to be built in Hempfield.

Mr. Harhai, a former mayor and councilman in his hometown of Monessen, is single. He is a 1977 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and worked for seven years as an investment banker in New York and Chicago.

His challenger, Dr. McConnell, is a Charleroi gynecologist.

He has blamed Gov. Ed Rendell and Mr. Harhai for tax-and-spend policies that threaten to destroy "business growth, family security and any opportunity for success.

"Many current legislators arrogantly, selfishly, feel they deserve the best of salary, benefits and retirement when the rest of us can only hope to have a job next week," he said.

Mr. Harhai abstained in July when the Legislature voted members and other state officials a pay raise.

Although he was not available for an interview, Dr. McConnell faxed a message to the Post-Gazette that laid out more of his platform.

He said he planned to reduce taxes across the board, reform the business tax structure and eliminate inheritance taxes on property. In his view, property rights are threatened and he would pare down land use regulations. He also hopes to reduce the state budget.

On health-care costs, Dr. McConnell said they would come down if legislation were passed to limit awards in malpractice suits.

As proof of his "100 percent pro-life" stance, Dr. McConnell vows "to stop any public funding that harms the unborn, the invalid or the innocent."

He said he supported individual citizen's right to own guns. "I will not support any legislation that will limit or restrict a Pennsylvania resident's right to carry a firearm or hunt," he wrote.

First educated as an engineer at Virginia Tech, Dr. McConnell finished his medical degree at the Medical College of Virginia. He is 48 and lives in Belle Vernon with his wife, Judy.