MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas announces plans to run for Milwaukee mayor

Alison Dirr Daniel Bice
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Sheriff Earnell R. Lucas.

Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas announced plans Thursday to run for Milwaukee mayor, promising to bring to the role experiences both in and outside of government.

That will make Lucas, a Democrat, the third candidate for the Milwaukee's top job now that the incumbent, Tom Barrett, is expected to depart soon to become ambassador to Luxembourg

Lucas, 63, told the Journal Sentinel he was raised by a single mother in Milwaukee in low-income housing and then by his grandmother after his mother's passing.

"I'm running because I have a vision where every child like myself from any corner in this city can receive the type of education that unlocks limitless possibilities that this world has to offer them," he said. "I have a vision for a city where from Bayview to Harambee, from Riverwest to Wedgewood, people of all ages and all persuasions are safe walking the streets, driving their cars and enjoying the parks."

He said he would bring to the role experience in and out of government, including earning the trust of voters and turning around the Sheriff's Department following the tenure of former Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. that saw deaths of inmates and a demoralized staff. 

The Journal Sentinel was first to report his entrance into the race. 

Already running is Common Council President Cavalier Johnson, who will become the city's acting mayor when Barrett exits, and former Ald. Bob Donovan. 

The timeline for the next mayor's election is up in the air, depending on when Barrett is confirmed by the Senate. If the fifth-term mayor is confirmed and leaves office by Dec. 28, the next primary for mayor would be in spring 2022.

But the uncertainty over the date of the election hasn't stopped interested officials from openly discussing throwing their hats in the ring

Lucas — at the time a Major League Baseball security official who previously served more than two decades with the Milwaukee Police Department — defeated Acting Sheriff Richard Schmidt in 2018.

Schmidt had been second-in-command at the department when Clarke resigned in August 2017. That led Schmidt to become acting sheriff.

Lucas ran on a campaign that promised to break with the controversies that surrounded Clarke's administration, including over deaths of jail inmates, mistreatment of inmates and inadequate staff.

As sheriff, Lucas has kept a low profile. Among his few controversies was his decision to hire Ted Chisholm, the 20-year-old son of District Attorney John Chisholm, as his chief of staff at $84,900 per year.

The next race for Milwaukee County sheriff, which is a partisan contest, is in August 2022.

He said he has not decided whether he will run for sheriff again.

"I haven't looked out that far but we have a long way to go to see how all of this works itself out," he said of the mayoral race.

Lucas joins a mayor's race in which Johnson has already announced plans to run for the permanent seat he will hold as acting mayor once Barrett leaves office. Whoever wins a yet-to-be scheduled election will finish out Barrett's term, which ends in 2024.

Donovan is a conservative and former longtime alderman who lost to Barrett by 40 percentage points in the 2016 mayor's race. Donovan did not run for re-election last year. 

Others have expressed interest in running, including Milwaukee Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, state Rep. Daniel Riemer, state Sens. Lena Taylor and Chris Larson, and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr