Terrie Jones Savage, sister of U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D-Alabama), will try to join her brother in public office this year. Savage qualified Thursday night to seek an Alabama House seat as a Democrat.

Savage is running for the state House District 9 seat currently held by Republican Rep. Ed Henry, who isn't running for re-election. The seat represents parts of Cullman, Marshall and Morgan counties.

Savage is retired from careers in medical technology and sales. She said today she is a board-certified histotechologist who led a team at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham before leaving to pursue a career in sales.

"I want to make a difference in this state and in my district," she said. "I think I have the leadership ability to bring back bipartisanship in the Legislature. I need to do my purpose in life, and that's to help people."

She decided to run after praying about the possibility and then answering a call from Democrats asking about her willingness to consider running. That was an answer to her prayers, she said, promising "run a clean campaign and tell the truth."

First, Savage said she is going deer hunting. "I love to hunt," she said.