Allegheny County government is proof that political fights can have nothing to do with party lines.

The 15-member county council is overwhelmingly Democratic. Only at-large member Samuel DeMarco and District 2 member Suzanne Filiaggi are Republicans. Every county row officer is a Democrat too, including County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

So when things devolve into fights and mutiny, there isn’t even the excuse of red versus blue party battles to fall back on. Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., might be hamstrung by the narrow and fluctuating majorities of Democrats or Republicans, but Allegheny County’s mud fights are always more personal because of one-party dominance.

The most recent example of that is Fitzgerald’s recent slap at at-large member Bethany Hallam over a proposed increase in minimum wages for county employees.

Hallam is one of the sponsors of a proposal to make the floor of county pay $20 an hour, moving in increments to $18 next year, $19 the year after and hitting the goal in 2026. That advanced from committee Tuesday. Fitzgerald responded Wednesday that the plan would cost taxpayers $30 million and “require the largest tax increase in the history of this government.”

Let’s be clear: there is plenty of good reason to debate this issue. Neither Hallam or Fitzgerald is wrong about their respective positions.

County government is an employer that has to compete with every other business and industry when it comes to those entry-level and starting wage jobs. It also takes a lot of people to achieve the county’s responsibilities. It is as important to fill the positions as it is to afford the paychecks.

But it is an unsurprisingly political move on both sides just days before the primary election. Fitzgerald isn’t running, but one of the most contentious races is Hallam’s against fellow Democrat Joanna Doven, who has the county executive’s endorsement.

This isn’t Fitzgerald and Hallam’s first political spat. It’s not the first time they have fought over budgets and pay raises. In 2022, the shoe was on the other foot as Hallam was part of opposition to a pay increase for several top Fitzgerald staffers that averaged 38% — considerably more than $1 per hour per year over three years.

It’s unlikely to be the last time the two hammer at each other. Regardless of the outcome at the polls, they will both have at least seven months to continue taking political jabs.

On the one hand, it’s almost comforting to know that sometimes the problems aren’t about party. On the other, it is downright demoralizing to realize that even when you get past the partisanship, the finger-pointing, stonewalling and grandstanding aren’t going anywhere.

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