State Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Moon, said he will vie for departing Sen. John Pippy's seat in the November race.

Mustio's bid for the 37th state senatorial district comes on the heels Allegheny Councilman Vince Gastgeb's announcement that he will end his campaign for Pippy's seat just five days after it began.

Mustio, who last week endorsed Gastgeb, said he chose to enter the race after the county councilman said he would no longer seek Pippy's seat.

Pippy, of Moon, said last week that he will not run for re-election in the November race.

"Yes it is (a result of Gastgeb's departure)," Mustio said. "There were people who had approached me about it along the way. Me and (state Rep.) John Maher and Vince (Gastgeb) had talked about it.

"It was important to me that as a representative I had a person in the senate that I could work closely with and I felt that was going to be Vince," he said. "But after he chose to no longer run, I decided that I would."

Gastgeb, who has served on county council since 1999, said personal reasons influenced his decision to end his candidacy just days after it began.

“While this was not an easy decision professionally, it is the best family and personal decision, which is much more important,” Gastgeb said in a statement.

"I have been fortunate to have had outstanding personal support," Gastgeb said. "As such, I would like to acknowledge State Rep. Mark Mustio for his support and confidence. I could not have asked for a better partner from such an outstanding public servant as Rep. Mustio."

Gastgeb, of Bethel Park, said he plans to continue to serve on Allegheny County Council.

Mustio, who was elected to the state House in 2003, said he hopes to make jobs and infrastructure the focus of his work in the state senate.

"I'm looking forward to running," he said. "I think I'm very qualified and I've got the voting record. We're going to continue to focus on jobs and infrastructure, just like we have here in the (Pittsburgh International) airport corridor, but now with a much larger territory."

This story originally appeared on Moon Patch