More from Rich Fitzgerald

Mass transit, , property taxes, the airport and the county budget will all be on Democrat Rich Fitzgerald’s radar when he takes over as Allegheny County executive in January.

Fitzgerald, 52, of Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, easily defeated Republican D. Raja, 46, of Mt. Lebanon, on Tuesday by picking up 63 percent of the vote compared to 37 percent for the GOP challenger. 

Fitzgerald celebrated the win on Tuesday night with hundreds of supporters at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union No. 5 in Pittsburgh’s South Side area. Many wore green T-shirts with the words “Welcome to Fitzburgh” on the front.

Afterward, Fitzgerald talked to Patch about his first priorities when taking office.

“We’ve got a lot of challenges,” he said, “transit, stopping the reassessment of our county only, being able to utilize Marcellus Shale in a way that could be productive for our citizens by putting people to work but not hurting the environment.”

During his campaign, Fitzgerald pledged to refuse to send out the new certified assessment numbers early next year unless the Pennsylvania Legislature adopted statewide standards for valuing properties.

 during a breakfast forum at the Pittsburgh Airport Holiday Inn in mid-October. He said that Marcellus Shale drilling on county property around the airport complex could serve as an economic boon for the surrounding communities.

Fitzgerald also addressed the airport’s slow decline in the number of daily flights and destinations.

“It’s got to be more helpful to our business community by providing flights from Pittsburgh to other major cities around the country and around the world,” he said.

Fitzgerald was quick to recognize his family’s efforts during the campaign. His wife, Cathy, and eight children flanked him during his victory speech.

“My oldest is 25, and my youngest is 15,” Rich said. “While the public gets to see us working together in a public campaign, we’ve been working together on a lot of things.

“It’s always been about our kids, involved in their education, their activities. We’re very, very supportive of each other.”

And Fitzgerald said that he would use that philosophy in running Allegheny County.

“We’ve always tried to impress upon our kids that, wherever you are, or whomever you work for, make the organization better for you being there,” he said. “And now, I guess we want to traffic another organization better—county government.”

Becky Emmers and Sarah Beth Martin contributed to this report.

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