Political newcomer ousts longtime supervisor in Allegheny Township

A political newcomer appeared to be successful in his campaign to replace a longtime supervisor in Allegheny Township.

According to unofficial election results Tuesday night and with all precincts reporting, Republican James Morabito had 56% of the vote, defeating incumbent Supervisor Kathy Starr, who had about 44%.

This is the second time Morabito defeated Starr, who has been a supervisor since 2003. Starr, a registered Republican, narrowly lost to Morabito in the May Republican primary. No Democrats were on the primary ballot, and Starr won the Democratic nomination as write-in.

In a written statement, Morabito said he attributed his success to voters being concerned about Starr’s leadership and power, and where the township was headed.

“She has become in my humble estimation too powerful and her agenda might not have been in all of the Allegheny Township residents’ best interest any longer,” he said. “The residents made it perfectly clear today that they want new leadership in Allegheny Township.”

Starr said she was surprised by the results, and congratulated Morabito “on a hard-fought race.”

“I think I overestimated the credibility that I had in the township,” she said. “I underestimated the sales pitch of my opponent.”

Starr said she’s proud of what she’s done during her time in office, including getting the township out of debt early so it saved money on interest, and keeping property taxes low.

“I hope that we don’t suffer any declines because of the new regime,” she said. “That would be sad for our people.”

Morabito thanked residents for putting their trust in him.

“I work for the residents of Allegheny Township, and that will not be forgotten,” he said.