Businessman bests longtime GOP incumbent in Allegheny Township supervisor's race

A newcomer has emerged victorious in his Republican primary race for Allegheny Township supervisor against a longtime incumbent.

With 100% of precincts reporting, Jeff Pollick, 52, had 56.68% of the vote on the Republican ballot, compared to John Rennick “Ren” Steele’s 40.06%, according to unofficial results from the Westmoreland County Board of Elections.

Reached Wednesday, Pollick said he was pleased with the results and the turnout, and was thankful for those who supported his campaign.

“This wasn’t just a win for me, it was a win for the entire township,” he said.

Pollick owns and operates Wooden Door Winery locations in Allegheny Township and Vandergrift. He said he was running for supervisor to support township residents, promote proactive measures and strengthen and assist the community.

He acknowleged Allegheny Township being a rural community and said, if elected in November, he would try to bring a farmers market to the community. Other priorities, he said, were to attract new businesses while retaining and supporting current ones.

Steele has been a township supervisor for 12 years. He is a former English teacher in the Armstrong and Freeport Area school districts. He also is a co-founder and playwright of the Freeport Theatre Festival.

Steele said he sought reelection to keep Allegheny Township a great place to live.

An attempt to reach Steele was unsuccessful Wednesday.

No candidates for supervisor appeared on the Democratic ballot, of which 356 write-in votes were cast. Results for the write-in votes weren’t available Wednesday.