Sponcer Wins Ward 3 Seat for Ross Township Commission

With an 11-vote margin, John Sponcer is the official winner of the Ward 3 race for the Ross Township Board of Commissioners, according to the election results certified today by the Allegheny County Elections Division. 

The results mean Sponcer will replace incumbent Commissioner Dan Kinross, who is serving as the commission's chairman until the end of the year. 

Kinross has spent 20 years on the commission. He owns the , which he opened in 1975 in the Babcock Boulevard commercial district. 

The election ended officially today with 378 votes cast for Sponcer, who ran on the Republican ticket, and 367 cast for Kinross, who ran as a Democrat. The results were certified this morning, said Mary Lou Flisinger, senior administrative assistant for the elections division.

Although parties who plan to challenge the results and ask for a recount have until the end of the day today to do so, vice-chairman of the Ross Township Democrats, Dan McClain, said today the organization accepted the elections division's count. 

"We talked it over," he said. "We don't see any need to charge the taxpayers' dollars. We don't expect the tally to change. We look forward to working with John." 

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Sponcer could not immediately be reached for comment on his win as of 3 p.m. Monday. 

A retired Comcast construction technician and volunteer firefighter (he's served both the  and the ), Sponcer has lived in Ross Township for 37 years. 

and a need to invest more attention on the issue of economic redevelopment. 

Sponcer lost to Kinross in the Democratic primary but won a write-in campaign to run as a Republican in the Nov. 8 general election. 

Ward 3 primarily encompasses the Laurel Gardens neighborhood of Ross Township.

How do you feel about the election results? Tell us in the comments.