Published: November 04, 2009 01:19 am      

Portage Twp. incumbent retains seat

PORTAGE — The incumbent Portage Township supervisor won his bid for re-election in a hotly contested race against a former township supervisor.

Democrat Jim Kovach, a supervisor for eight years and full-time township employee for nearly four years, received 492 votes to 445 captured by challenger Bruce Brunett, who won the Republican nomination in the spring.

Kovach credited his commitment to serving the public as the reason for his victory.

“It’s about taking care of the people. Every person who came to me, my goal was to help them, listen to them and try to get help,” Kovach said late Tuesday.

Brunett said he had no comment on the outcome of the race.

In a race for Cresson Township supervisor, Republican incumbent Gary Bradley retained his seat with 273 votes over challenger Democrat Howard Harkins with 189 votes.

A write-in campaign by longtime Cresson Borough Councilman Michael McGough, who lost in the spring, may have had an impact on that race.

Vote results minus the write-ins show Rob Hogue with

260 votes; incumbent Michael Zabinsky at 202, Susan White with

183 votes, and Patrick Mulhern with 167 votes.

All are Democrats. Republican Tom McConnell with 163 votes is not expected to have a seat at the table.

Mulhern, unopposed in his bid for mayor, received 245 votes for the seat, taking 87 percent of the vote.

The big unknown was the official count of the write-in votes, which will be completed later this week.

“Mike (McGough) had good support, you never know which way a race will go,” Mulhern said.

If Mulhern captures a seat on council as well, he will have to decide which office to accept.

Local building contractor Dennis Squillario, a Democrat, was the top vote getter in his bid for the two-year at-large seat on Portage Area school board, a vacancy created by the resignation of Rick Thompson. Squillario received 692 votes compared with

640 votes cast for college student Andrew Gruse, the Republican nominee.

Unofficial results in the race for Lilly Borough Council show an upset, with longtime President John Nezneski, a Democrat, losing his seat, while political newcomer, Republican Michelle Claar, was the top vote-getter at

104 votes. Longtime Councilman Paul Sklodowski retained his seat with

85 votes, as did Richard Sweeney with 75 votes. Nezneski received 62 votes.

In the race for supervisor in Gallitzin Township, Dave Lynch received

166 votes to 92 for Glenn Noel.