By Tom Mulkeen, Contributing Writer

According to a Municipoll/PoliticsPA survey, Allegheny Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty holds a slight lead over Rich Fitzgerald, the President of Allegheny County Council, in the Democratic race for County Executive.

Flaherty leads 31 percent to 23 percent, with the remaining 46% still undecided.  The poll was conducted over the weekend via IVR and asked 843 likely Democratic primary voters whom they would support if the primary was held today.

That’s a fairly significant difference from internal polls released by Flaherty’s campaign two weeks ago, which showed him leading by a wide 46 to 17 percent margin.

There also was a large discrepancy in the two polls between what percent of Democrats have a favorable impression of Flaherty.  According to his poll, Flaherty was well-liked by Democratic voters at a ratio of five to one. This poll showed him at 33 percent favorable versus 14 percent unfavorable. Both polls agree that voters do not have a strong opinion about Fitzgerald; fewer than one in three voters knew enough about him to form an opinion. Those that did viewed him 18 percent favorably versus 14 percent unfavorably.

“No one is running away with this race; at least not yet.  This is a hard-fought race between two quality candidates for county executive,” said Municipoll President Ed Haggerty.

The Democratic race for the County Controller is even closer. Former Pittsburgh City Councilwoman and Recorder of Deeds Valerie McDonald Roberts leads State Rep. Chelsa Wagner 26 percent to 22.5 percent. Former Duquesne mayor and Allegheny Clerk of Courts George Matta is in third with about 16 percent.  The remaining 36 percent are still undecided and could easily turn the election to any of the three candidates.  Technically speaking, the margin between Roberts and Wagner is within the margin of error so the two are statistically tied.

The Controller is essentially the auditor of the county government and the last two and is seen as a launching pad for County Executive candidates.  The winner of the Democratic primary will face Bob Howard in the general election since Howard is running unopposed for the GOP nomination.

This is the second of a two-part series. Yesterday we brought you poll results in the GOP primary for Allegheny County Executive. Tomorrow we will unveil general election matchups.

Keegan Gibson contributed to this report.