Former Sheriff David Clarke floats a challenge to Tammy Baldwin for Senate in 2024

WASHINGTON – Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is weighing a potential 2024 Senate run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

After Clarke launched a new politically-focused podcast this week, a representative for the controversial former sheriff said Clarke "would never take anything off the table as it relates to his future."

"As time goes on, he may make a determination of what to do with the branding he has built up over the years, but not now," Judy Wilkinson, a Clarke spokeswoman, said in a statement that was first reported by the Daily Beast.

"He has said to me on more than one occasion that in politics, timing is everything, and he will continue to take life one day at a time."

Republicans have yet to announce an official challenge to Baldwin. But potential GOP challengers include Madison businessman Eric Hovde, U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher and former U.S. Rep. and current Fox News personality Sean Duffy.

Wilkinson in her statement said Clarke's "objective right now is to become a thought leader in the conservative movement." But she also attacked Baldwin as "vulnerable," saying the Madison Democrat "has no message and runs strictly on her identity politics checklist. She is a back-bencher in the US Senate."

Wisconsin Democrats on Tuesday welcomed Clarke into the race against Baldwin.

"In the years since he resigned in disgrace as Milwaukee County Sheriff, David Clarke has made MAGA conspiracy theories his full-time job," Arik Wolk, a rapid response director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said in a statement.

"If David Clarke thinks his record of failure and MAGA extremism has a chance against Senator Baldwin's record of standing up for Wisconsin families, then bring it on."

The news of Clarke's potential Senate bid comes a day after Clarke launched a podcast in which he detailed what he called his "rock-solid conservative" beliefs and pushed back on the Republican Party for not having enough "conservative fighters" in government.

In his first episode released Monday, he called Republican U.S. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah "RINOs," the acronym that represents "Republicans In Name Only," and referred to a 2018 article he wrote for the conservative website Town Hall in which he encouraged Republicans to take a more aggressive approach with Democrats.

"This new conservative fighter has to rid themselves of their self-righteousness about the kind of tactics they will have to use to take on the left’s machine. For instance, taking the high road is an ineffective tactic against this foe as merely is expressing outrage," Clarke said in his podcast Monday, reading excerpts from the 2018 article.

"I want to be clear," he added. "I do not advocate for violence, but I do advocate for more effective counter-tactics than the weak-kneed ones currently deployed."

Clarke served as sheriff from 2002 until his abrupt resignation in 2017

Clarke, who served as Milwaukee County sheriff from 2002 until he abruptly retired in 2017, ran as a Democrat in his four successful bids for Milwaukee County sheriff. In his podcast, he explained why:

“I had to run as a Democrat in order to get elected. But people soon found out I’m not a Democrat,” Clarke said, comparing himself to a conservative in line with former Republican U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater and Republican President Ronald Reagan.

He added: "This new type of Democrat today, are you kidding me? I’m the furthest thing from it. People knew that, and guess what? In Milwaukee County, I continued to get reelected with the voters in a liberal county knowing he’s a hard-core conservative... You want a balls-to-the-wall, tough-on-crime law enforcement executive. And that’s what I gave them.”

Wisconsin's Senate race expected to be closely watched in 2024

Should Clarke decide to challenge Baldwin in 2024, it would shake up the potential Republican field for what is likely to be a closely watched race as Democrats aim to maintain their slim Senate majority — adding a candidate who could appeal to supporters of former President Donald Trump.

The Stetson-wearing former sheriff over the years closely aligned himself with Trump. After resigning from his post as sheriff, Clarke joined Trump's Super PAC America First as an advisor and made regular appearances on Fox News until he was reportedly dropped from the network.

Clarke, now 66, rose to national prominence beginning with his narrow 2014 Democratic primary victory in which he overcome heavy outside spending with the help of the National Rifle Association.

He became the go-to law enforcement official to defend police officers as they faced protesters after shootings in Ferguson, Mo., New York City and elsewhere. He was particularly critical of the Black Lives Matter movement, which he dubbed "Black Lies Matter."

Controversies under Sheriff Clarke's watch included deaths in the jail

But Clarke has also faced his share of controversy.

In his final term, at least four people, including a newborn, died at the Milwaukee County Jail under his watch. The county reportedly agreed to pay nearly $7 million to the family of one of those who died, and at least three workers at the jail were criminally charged.

More recently, Clarke has drawn fire for suggesting "force" should be used against social media outlets that are blocking prominent conservatives and telling protesters who attended the Trump rally ahead of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 not to cooperate with law enforcement.

"ALERT!!!," Clarke wrote on social media at the time. "If you attended the Trump rally in Washington DC last Wednesday and are contacted by the FBI or they come to your home, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TALK TO THEM. DON'T LET THEM IN YOUR HOME EITHER. POLITELY TELL THEM TO LEAVE AND CLOSE THE DOOR."

Despite being shunned from Fox, Clarke has remained active on right-wing television and in 2021 started the conservative non-profit Rise Up.

Wilkinson on Tuesday said Clarke "continually works to expand it through political commentary."

"There is a long way to go," she said. "He will continue to share his thoughts through his new podcast, 'Straight Talk With America's Sheriff David Clarke.'"

Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former sheriff David Clarke floats a challenge to Baldwin in 2024