Fitzgerald re-election campaign has $1.24M but no opponent

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald begins his re-election campaign with $1.24 million and no declared opponent.

Fitzgerald, 55, raised about $1 million in 2014, according to campaign finance reports released Monday.

The Democrat from Squirrel Hill is seeking his second term as county executive. No Republicans or Democrats have announced plans to challenge him.

“You have to be ready. You've got to be prepared,” Fitzgerald said. “When you have a war chest that shows you have support in the community, it typically does dissuade people from running.”

Jim Roddey, head of the Allegheny County Republican Committee and a former county executive, said he is talking to some potential challengers, but no one has committed. He wasn't surprised by how much money Fitzgerald has raised.

“If he has a serious competitor, he'll spend more than that,” Roddey said.

Morgan O'Brien, president and CEO of Peoples Natural Gas, and committees representing the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Carpenters Legislative Program for Greater Pennsylvanian each gave Fitzgerald one-time donations of $25,000.

Fitzgerald's campaign spent $338,000 in 2014, including $110,000 donated to Gov. Tom Wolf's campaign.

County Controller Chelsa Wagner, a Democrat running for re-election, raised $104,000 during 2014, according to county and state reports. Her reports include the names of donors but not their occupations or employers, as required by the form for donations of $250 or more. Wagner said the report form she uses doesn't require that information.

Wagner started 2015 with $61,000. Her opponent, Mark Patrick Flaherty, a former county controller, did not raise any money in 2014 but has $40,000 in debts from his unsuccessful run in 2011 against Fitzgerald for county executive.

Mike Mikus, who is running Flaherty's campaign, said his candidate started raising money at the beginning of the year.

Aaron Aupperlee is a Trib Total Media staff writer. He can be reached at 412-320-7986 or aaupperlee@tribweb.com.