Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Gubernatorial candidate and current Speaker of the House Mike Turzai speaks to a group of Republicans on Friday night in Warren.

Fiscal responsibility, job creation and more money in the pockets of the taxpayer.

That was the heart of the message that current Speaker of the state House and gubernatorial candidate Mike Turzai brought to a stop on his #pafightsback tour held at Perkins on Friday night.

Turzai, the current Speaker and a representative from the Pittsburgh area, announced his candidacy for governor last month.

He was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2001 after a failed Congressional attempt in 1998.

He served as majority leader in the House from 2011-2014 and has been speaker since.

In introducing Turzai, State Representative Kathy Rapp called him a “great leader” with “real conservative values.”

“He’s the person I believe can make Pennsylvania great again.”

Senator Scott Hutchinson called Turzai “a true leader,” a “principled leader” and a “change agent” who “energizes those around him.”

“I’m a reformer with results,” Turzai said.

The Republican majority in the House has been “playing defense fighting Wolf’s” taxes from “cradle to grave.”

“He’s out of touch,” he said of Wolf. “He doesn’t know how real people live.”

Turzai outlined several priorities should he be elected to to the governor’s mansion – fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget, school accountability and increased investments in career and technical education.

He said he would “demand results” and “put more money back in your paychecks.”

Turzai said that if he was unable to bring about hose changes in a four year term that he wouldn’t run again.

He then specifically focused on job creation, arguing that Wolf’s policies are “growing government and a culture of dependency.”

“In the end people want a job,” he claimed.

He pointed to the cracker plant in Beaver County as a job creator that also has the power to spin off various manufacturing enterprises.

The idea that we “can’t grow manufacturing is a myth,” he said, also speaking in support of conventional oil producers.

“I think there’s just a great opportunity and we shouldn’t miss it,” Turzai added, decrying burdensome Department of Environmental Protection and calling the department, instead, “Don’t Employ Pennsylvanians.”

“We need to get results from what (we are) spending money on.”

Speaking on anti-abortion legislation recently approved by the General Assembly, and driven by Rapp, Turzai said, “we believe in the dignity of each individual. Our approach is every life matters.”

In closing, he said a Turzai administration would “be here fighting for jobs” and is “going to work with people on both sides of the aisle” in that effort.