In the morning have to hold gas pedal down to start

Wrong air/gas ratio of mixture. Nasty problem, can be dirty nozzles or dirty air filter, almost invisible crack in a hose, loose input manifold or similar, low coolant level, making the auto-choker to behave funny, the choker's sensor, old worn gasket on the carb. I haven't looked at Cherokee, so sorry if there are no carb engines for it.