Home Madison Former Milwaukee Cop to Challenge Sheriff David Clarke

Former Milwaukee Cop to Challenge Sheriff David Clarke

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Though he hasn’t formerly announced his candidacy, a campaign adviser told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that longtime Milwaukee police officer Earnell Lucas will run against Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke in the 2018 Democratic primary, if Clarke runs for a fifth term.

“Earnell hasn’t announced, but he’s decided to get into this race,” Sachin Chheda, a political strategist at Nation Consulting, told the Journal Sentinel. “Earnell is in the process of getting organized.”

Lucas rose to the rank of Captain before leaving the Milwaukee Police Department in 2002 to join Major League Baseball, running Commissioner Bud Selig’s security detail. By 2008, he was running security and facilities for all of Major League Baseball.

Clarke has become a lightning rod of late, rising to national prominence as a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. He was once mentioned as a potential candidate for Homeland Security Secretary, and a nationwide effort is underway to draft him to run for Senate as a Republican against Tammy Baldwin.

He has also been under fire for conditions at the Milwaukee County Jail, where four people died in a six-month period and where 40 women have given birth while shackled, according to a federal lawsuit.

Even though a Trump supporter, Clarke is officially registered as a Democrat.

Clarke’s representatives had no comment.