WTAE-TV and the League of Women Voters will partner on a debate this fall featuring the two major party nominees for Allegheny County executive, the station announced last week.
Former state Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Lawrenceville, and Republican businessman Joe Rockey plan to participate in the live one-hour debate, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 3.
Voters will head to the polls Nov. 7 to pick which candidate will replace Rich Fitzgerald, the Democrat who will leave office at the end of the year after serving three consecutive terms as county executive.
The county employs roughly 6,300 employees, with a $3 billion budget spread across two dozen departments. The executive can play a major role in setting the county government’s agenda on issues such as air quality, property taxes and the county jail; proposes the annual budget; and fills seats on dozens of important boards, authorities and commissions.
As Rockey and Innamorato begin courting voters, they told the Union Progress last month that they are working to make plans on how to run Pennsylvania’s second-largest county. The winner will have less than two months after Election Day to make their last preparations before getting sworn in on Jan. 2, 2024.
Jon, a copy editor and reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and working as a co-editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Reach him at jmoss@unionprogress.com.
