By David Gerber, Contributing Writer

The Allegheny County Executive race is heating up this week with both candidates launching ads via television and radio.

With the November 8th election just around the corner, the candidates are not hesitating in going negative.

Republican candidate D.Raja in both ads begins by introducing his opposition as a career politician.

The television ad recognizes Fitzgerald’s initiatives to support higher taxes imposed on Allegheny County, the drink tax, along with taxes on cars and parks that he supported with Fitzgerald shown in a black and white fashion that makes him look ominous.

Raja’s radio piece has a similar tone while pointing out that Fitzgerald’s policies in taxation have increased unemployment and have placed Allegheny County in a steady economic decline.

Then, without delay, the add switches its genre to an upbeat melody, introducing Raja as an innovator who will cut taxes and spending, ending with “reform, results, Raja.”

As reported by Early Returns, the Fitzgerald campaign did not hesitate in releasing a response toward the ad, retorting with, “Raja is running a false attack ad because he doesn’t want to discuss how he was fined $133,000 for failing to pay the minimum wage and he got rich by shipping American jobs overseas,” Rich Fitzgerald’s campaign manager Mike Mikus said.

“Everybody knows that Allegheny County is better off than the rest of the nation, but Raja would rather sling mud than explain why he was exploiting his workers here while tripling his employees overseas.”

Fitzgerald’s adds take a slightly different approach.

Leaning towards being upbeat and positive in nature, Fitzgerald’s TV ad depicts the candidate in his house with his family being a role model on how to save.

In the ad, Fitzgerald proposes that, “As County Council President, I saved taxpayers millions of dollars by cutting waste and fighting property tax heights… As County Executive, I will keep working hard to save energy, jobs, and taxpayer’s money…I’m all about saving.”

His radio ad is also quite similar in deliverance, making known that his business helps companies save money and jobs and Allegheny County is Pa.’s only county not to raise property taxes in the last ten years, both of which will be his aim if elected to County Executive.

He then goes on the offensive for the first time in both of his ads, switching to gloomy music while blaming Raja for only focusing on attacking him and not focusing on issues of importance. Fitzgerald’s add says Raja’s reasoning for this is because he has a terrible jobs record from outsourcing and not paying his workers the minimum wage or overtime when due.

“Raja isn’t a job creator, he is a job destroyer,” came through as the ad ends.