Steve Santarsiero of Curtin & Heefner.

As former Pennsylvania Rep. Steve Santarsiero prepares for another run at the state legislature, he has joined a Bucks County law firm with a long history of partner involvement in state politics.

Santarsiero, a Democrat, is the newest partner at Curtin & Heefner, joining the firm's public sector and environmental law practices.

Earlier this week Santarsiero announced plans to run for the Pennsylvania Senate's 10th District seat. Running for an elected position requires him to step down from his post at the Office of Attorney General, where he was the chief deputy attorney general for environmental protection.

“That was a great experience for me, and it was hard to ultimately decide to give that up,” Santarsiero said of his OAG position. But “over the last few months I started looking at many of the things happening in our state and nationally, and came to the decision that I could make the most impact as a member of the state Senate.”

Santarsiero said Curtin & Heefner's environmental practice played a major role in his decision to join. Partner Jordan Yeager chairs both the environmental and public sector practices, and is a friend of Santarsiero's, he said. In a case that got statewide attention for its effect on the energy industry in Pennsylvania, Yeager successfully argued in 2016 before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that major portions of the state's oil and gas law should be struck.

Santarsiero was appointed to his OAG position in May, after unsuccessfully running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016.

Curtin & Heefner serves as solicitor to several municipalities in southeastern Pennsylvania and as special counsel to other government bodies and agencies in the state. The firm's founders, Willard Curtin and William Heefner, were both active in politics, but on opposite sides of the aisle—Curtin as a Republican congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives and Heefner as a longtime treasurer for the Bucks County Democratic Party.

Managing partner Frank Guarrieri said the firm's environmental practice is growing, and it has added two other lawyers before Santarsiero in the last year or so. He said the firm is supportive of Santarsiero's campaign.

“It's obviously a challenge to his time constraints, but we see it as a potential plus to have a state senator also spending time in the office,” he said.