Rich Fitzgerald Marches And Matt Drozd Waves As November Election Season Kicks Off
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Labor Day, the traditional kick-off of to the November election, found plenty of politicians parading.
On Monday, Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald was out-and-about, marching in his campaign for reelection.
"We have a great tradition of labor, management working together," Fitzgerald said. "Today, we obviously honor labor for the work that they do."
But Matt Drozd, Fitzgerald's Republican challenger, was out on McKnight Road at the entrance to I-279, waving to all who drove by.
"I've been in every major intersection in Allegheny County," Drozd told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Monday. "I'll venture to say that a lot of your viewers have seen me at one time or another."
If you're a candidate for public office and don't have a lot of money, one way to get known is to be on the streets of Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas.
Drozd said he's already waved at over 100,000 cars by simply being at major intersections.
Drozd, who served on county council for eight years and is an Iraq War veteran, said Fitzgerald should not be allowed to run for a third term, even though the county charter permits that.
"I think it's ridiculous ... the longer you serve, the more tainted your decision-making process," said Drozd.
He said the county executive should be limited to two terms like the governor and president are.
"I'm not running for a job. I'm running to make a difference," said Drozd. "And I don't believe anybody should be in there – there should be term limits."
Drozd, as his signs say, pledges to cut county taxes because he said people are moving out of the county.
"We're losing population to neighboring counties," Drozd said. "All you have to do is go to Washington, Butler, and you'll see all the businesses that are growing."
Besides the county executive race, there is a race for district attorney where incumbent DA Stephen Zappala is being challenged by independent candidate Lisa Middleman.
And in the counties like Beaver, Washington and Westmoreland, there are some heated battles for county commissioner.
The election is just nine weeks away.
