First look at exec money today

Local campaign finance reports are due today for the first and only time before the May 17 primary -- the only look we've had previously was the year-end reports for 2010, which were meaningless for new candidates such as GOP exec hopeful D. Raja.

Some things we'll be wondering about:

-- Are Democrats Mark Patrick Flaherty and Rich Fitzgerald still relying mostly on their own money and/or loans or have they been successful in prying open other wallets and purses? To whom is most of the money flowing? And who's spending the most on TV?

-- Raja, a successful tech company CEO, is expected to prime his own pump too. How much is he spending to try to ward off a challenge from Chuck McCullough, who after all has won countywide before while under his lingering legal cloud? And is McCullough raising/spending anything significant at all, or going entirely grassroots as promised?

-- Are city candidates flirting with or flouting the city's new (but to date ineffective) campaign finance law?

More on this through the day. Also, there is another executive candidate's forum hosted by VisitPittsburgh -- focusing on travel/tourism -- at 1 p.m. at Station Square.