Flaherty to Run for County Exec, Fitzgerald Considers a Bid

One soon-to-declare and one possible candidate are praising Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato who announced today he will not seek a third term in that office.
County Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty, who was expected to run for the county's top post whether or not Onorato sought reelection, issued a statement saying that Onorato has served the people of the county with distinction as a member of Pittsburgh Council, then as County Controller and now as Chief Executive.....
"Dan has been a dedicated public servant. He now prepares to move to the next stage of his career and whether it be in the public or private sector, I wish Dan and his family well."

In the next sentence of the statement to the media, Flaherty said he will formally announce he will run for County Executive at an event in the County Courthouse Courtyard January 19th.

In an interview with DUQ News, County Council President Rich Fitzgerald also praised Onorato..."He's done a great job moving this county, this region forward over the last 8 years." Fitzgerald called it "kind of a sad day because it's going to be a loss for this region not having him at the helm."
Fitzgerald says he's talked with Onorato a few times over the last several weeks and he's not surprised but still called it a difficult decision.......
"Because he has done a lot of good things and I'm sure there's a lot more he would like to do...there are always challenges ahead with the reassessments and with Marcellus Shale and some big issues we need to move forward on."
When asked about his interest in the county executive post, Fitzgerald said today "is not the day to say who's running for what, there will be time for that." But neither would Fitzgerald rule out a run for county executive.
He said he would not run if Onorato had decided to seek a third term.