The race for the state House 11th District seat boils down to liberal vs. conservative politics.

Republican incumbent Brian Ellis, 36, of Butler Township, weighs in as a conservative and finds himself at odds on many issues with his Democratic opponent, Bill Neel.

Mr. Neel supports abortion rights, is anti-Bush, is in favor of gay civil unions and is against state legislation to curb illegal immigration. A member of the Thomas Merton Center, a peace and justice group in Pittsburgh, Mr. Neel helped to create the Unity Project in Butler in the early 1990s. The group explores racial issues.

Mr. Ellis is against abortion, a Bush supporter, against gay marriage and has supported just about every effort to block illegal immigration, including resolutions that would make it a criminal offense to hire or rent to an illegal immigrant.

Mr. Neel, 69, of Butler, who ran unopposed in the primary election, said he was seeking the seat because he "can't stand the thought of [Mr. Ellis] having no competition."

He believes that his chances are slim. "I'm running in neutral with my foot on the accelerator," he said. But he said he believed competition is needed.

A 1955 graduate of Mars High School, he studied electrical engineering at Penn State and has taken classes at Indiana University of Pa. and Butler County Community College. He served in the Army and the Army Reserves for six years and was discharged in 1964. He and his wife, Nancy, married that year.

He worked for Armco Steel for 35 years, retiring in 1997 from the electric construction department. He has been teaching industrial electrical technology classes since 1993 at Dean Technical Institute.

He has been interested in politics for many years, but has never held office, though not for lack of trying. He ran for a state representative seat about 30 years ago but was defeated in the primary. He ran for Butler council in the early 1980s but lost. And he ran for county controller in the late 1990s and lost.

"It's a long-shot, but I think that this incumbent is one of the truly divisive young men in the area. His views are so antithetical to mine that the idea of him running unopposed appalled me," Mr. Neel said.

Though Mr. Ellis stood out as one of the state legislators who voted against last year's pay raise, Mr. Neel said, he "didn't speak out enough against it. I just don't think he has strong stands on principle. He's very political."

He said he didn't like Mr. Ellis' conservative politics, which Mr. Neel contends aren't just conservative, but "reactionary."

Mr. Neel said that, if he is elected, he will work to bring property tax reform to Pennsylvania and to try to shrink the Legislature.

As for some of the political issues of the day, here's a look at Mr. Neel's views:

"If it's not illegal to be homosexual, they should be allowed the same rights. I favor a contract that permits civil unions," Mr. Neel said.

As for abortion, "I'm pro-choice. That's it."

Illegal immigration? "Enforce the laws that are on the books. This is a federal issue."

It is a federal issue, Mr. Ellis said, but the feds aren't doing the job. "That's why it's becoming a state problem," he said.

Though he prefers to see uniform legislation across the country, he supports an array of measures aimed at stemming what he sees as a tide of illegal immigration. "It is one of, if not the, major problem we're going to face in the next 10 to 15 years," he said.

As for abortion, "I oppose it." Gay marriage? He was a co-sponsor of failed legislation to pass a state constitutional amendment making gay marriage illegal.

He said his goals for a second term would be continued work on property tax reform and keeping government spending in check.

"I support a constitutional amendment to limit the growth of government. I'm against the creation of new programs," said Mr. Ellis, who serves on House committees such as finance, commerce, intergovernmental affairs, tourism and recreation, and children and youth.

A 1988 graduate of Butler High School, he earned a degree in communications from the University of Pittsburgh in 1999. He married his wife, Monica, in 1996. He is a co-owner of the Ellis Auto Group, which owns auto dealerships in Lyndora, Penn and Emlenton, which straddles Venango and Clarion counties.

Both Mr. Neel and Mr. Ellis have had trouble with the law.

Mr. Neel was arrested as a protester at a Labor Day rally in 2002 for refusing to stay in a "free speech zone" during a visit by President Bush. The charges were dismissed.

Mr. Ellis was put in the special probation program known as Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition in 1994 after he pleaded no contest to a drunken driving charge.