We're late to this but for the record:

Local Republicans in Hampton, Fox Chapel and parts of Ross, O'Hara and Shaler got together Saturday and picked Hampton attorney Hal English as their candidate to replace now Sen. Randy Vulakovich on the Nov. 6 ballot against Democrat David Tusick in the 30th District state House race.

English is a retired Marine Lt. Colonel and Shaler native.

A Democratic SuperPAC called the House Majority PAC is out with an ad in the Pittsburgh market counter-punching Republican congressional candidate Keith Rothfus' "Regular Guy" debut ad. The negative ad calls him a "millionaire Wall Street lawyer," shows him walking into the ritzy Duquesne Club, and digs thru Democratic oppo material to note he represented bailout-receiving BNY-Mellon.

The SuperPAC says it's a two-week, $200,000 ad buy.

UPDATE 2 PM. From the Rothfus campaign:

Pittsburgh, PA - Congressman Critz revealed today just how desperate he really is to distract from his failures in Washington in order to save his failed political career. The Critz campaign, through the House Majority PAC – a Super PAC controlled by Critz's mentor, Nancy Pelosi – began airing an ad today demonizing Keith Rothfus for being a "Wall Street Lawyer." The only problem, Rothfus has never been a Wall Street lawyer. Straight out of the Obama playbook, this blatantly false and deceitful campaign ad is exactly the type of misleading ad that degrades the public discourse.

It is understandable that Critz doesn't want to discuss his failure to create jobs and the record 42 months of above 8% unemployment in the Obama/Critz economy, but it is surprising that he criticizes a major employer whose PAC contributed to his long-time boss, the late Congressman Jack Murtha. Bank of New York Mellon's PAC has also contributed to the DCCC, so Critz will certainly want to renounce any money or ads from the DCCC. He is attacking Rothfus for something he is at the same time benefiting from, Critz can't have it both ways.

Instead of supporting President Obama's big-government economic policies, Keith Rothfus will empower job creators right here in Pennsylvania and strengthen the middle class. Attached is a fact check of the ad.

From the breaking news desk:

HARRISBURG -- The Corbett administration has responded to a federal review of the new voter ID requirement in a letter suggesting the U.S. Department of Justice has overstepped its authority because of political opposition to the law.

...

In a letter Friday to the Justice Department's top civil rights lawyer, General Counsel James Schultz said the state would be willing to provide the federal agency with the same information it shared with the groups who challenged the law in state court, provided the department signs a confidentiality agreement.

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In addition to the voter registration rolls, the department asked for any records supporting a claim in a press release from the governor's office that 99 percent of eligible voters have acceptable identification. Mr. Schultz wrote that such documents "fall well outside the scope" of the law cited by the Justice Department in its request.

"In light of the absence of authority for your request for information, I question whether your inquiry is truly motivated by a desire to assess compliance with federal voting rights laws, or rather is fueled by political motivation," he wrote.

On the same day national Republicans are running their first Pittsburgh ad attacking Johnstown incumbent Democrat Mark Critz, his opponent Keith Rothfus has entered the TV market too but with an upbeat spot.

The ad shows the Sewickley attorney fixing his daughter's bike, mowing the lawn and grilling hot dogs. "He's a regular guy, and he's running for Congress," the spot says.

Prepare to see a lot of Rothfus ads. He's bought time through the rest of this month all the way to election day. Here's a look at the buys just over the next few weeks on KDKA-TV alone.

Besides his hot dog grilling acumen, Rothfus is a cancer survivor and Buffalo native who worked in the Bush administration and for Pat Roberson's Regent University in Virginia. Here's a bio I did during his 2010 GOP primary run against former US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.

UPDATE 2 PM: The Critz campaign responds:

Congressional candidate Keith Rothfus’ first television commercial attempts to portray him as a regular guy despite the fact that his personal finance reports show that he is personally worth up to $12 million. The spot also omits very important details including Rothfus’ support for the Ryan Budget that ends Medicare as we know and forces seniors to pay an additional $6,400 for health care to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. The ad also doesn’t disclose that Rothfus supports unfair trade agreements that ship jobs overseas to countries like China and India.

“Keith Rothfus continues to run a deceptive campaign rather than explain why he wants to end Medicare as we know it which will cost seniors an additional $6,400 per year for health care, all to pay for more tax cuts for the wealthy,” Mark Critz for Congress spokesman Mike Mikus said. “Keith Rothfus is worth millions of dollars and he is on the record supporting unfair trade deals that ship jobs overseas. Those positions portray a candidate who is anything but a regular guy.”

A factcheck from the Democrat's campaign is available here.