May 10, 2018 4 min read

Voters in the 48th Legislative District will have the opportunity to cast their ballots twice for either Republican Tim O’Neal or Democrat Clark Mitchell Jr. Tuesday.

And they won’t be committing voter fraud.

Confusing? Sure. Now, here’s the deal: On the same day Pennsylvania voters will be choosing Democratic and Republican nominees for governor, congressional and legislative seats, voters in the 48th district will be able to choose who should represent them in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the remainder of the year, filling a seat left vacant by the resignation of Brandon Neuman, who became a Washington County judge earlier this year. At the same time, they will also be choosing Republican and Democratic nominees for the term that will begin next January and run through January 2021.

In other words, a special election is happening the same day as the primary.

Republican Tim O’Neal, a human resources director for a Pittsburgh construction company and an U.S. Army veteran, is running against Democrat Clark Mitchell, a Washington attorney, in the special election. In the primary, O’Neal is running unopposed, Mitchell is competing against Joe Zupancic, a Washington attorney and former member of the Canonsburg school board.

Also running in the special election is Demo Agoris, a Houston borough councilman who is running as a Libertarian candidate.

In the special election, we think the best choice for voters is O’Neal.

Both O’Neal and Mitchell are neophytes, making their first runs for political office. Neither is as versed in the issues currently facing the commonwealth as we would like, but we have seen candidates who are untried grow into the role. O’Neal could well follow in their footsteps, and his mix of business and military experience leads us to believe he would be able to adapt to the ways of Harrisburg. We are heartened O’Neal recognizes the severity of the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania, and is committed to rebuilding the commonwealth’s broken infrastructure.

Whether he wins or loses the special election next Tuesday, O’Neal will be facing voters again in November, given the lack of opposition he is facing on the Republican side. Mitchell could end up having the same opportunity as well if he wins the Democratic nomination next week. However, we were impressed with Zupancic, and believe Democratic voters would be better served by nominating him.

Zupancic comes to the contest with an impressive resume. A Harvard graduate, he has been a mainstay on the Washington County legal scene for more than 20 years, having worked as an attorney, clerk for Judge David Gilmore and stints as assistant district attorney. Perhaps more importantly, he has a deep background in educational policy, having served as a member of the school board in the Canon-McMillan School District, on the board for the Intermediate Unit 1 agency and as regional director of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Given the perennial brawling about the budget and education funding, Zupancic would be able to offer critical insights on how resources could be best deployed if he makes it to Harrisburg, and would have a sure grasp of other complex issues.

Zupancic was the subject of embarrassing headlines a little more than three years ago when a judge ruled he deliberately withheld evidence from a robbery defendant’s attorney. Zupancic put it down to forgetfulness, but said he owned up to the mistake by resigning from the district attorney’s office. We’ll take him at his word.

The 48th Legislative District includes Canonsburg, Houston, East Washington, Washington, and North Franklin, North Strabane and South Strabane townships.