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Now that Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has announced his intentions to form a mayoral committee to run for mayor, the question being asked by many political observers is can he win?

“He is going to be a strong candidate, but I don’t know where the votes are going to come from for him to win,” said one political strategist. “If he was running for county executive, I can see him winning that race because of the support he would get from the suburbs. But the conservative votes in the city, on the south side, on the north side near Brown Deer and on the west side near Wauwatosa, he is going to have to fight (Alderman Tom) Nardelli for.”

Clarke, an African American, burst onto the political scene with his appointment as sheriff in 2002. He easily won election in 2002 and has become a darling of conservative talk radio. With his emphatic statements on the need to reduce crime and the lack of leadership in the city, observers say Clarke embodies the leadership skills that other candidates in the race, such as Common Council President Marvin Pratt, lack.

Moreover, Clarke could draw votes away from Pratt in the black community, although some are skeptical of how many in the black community will support Clarke. And some observers said his inability to handle criticism could also harm him.

“He may not get as many votes in the black community as one might think,” said the political strategist. “He has taken some pretty strong stands that have angered many of the black leaders in the city.”

The other unknown from Clarke’s entry into the race is whether it will force any of the other major candidates to reevaluate their run and drop out. The two most frequently mentioned are Pratt and Nardelli, both of whom have to give up their safe aldermanic seats to run for mayor. The likelihood of Pratt dropping out of the race has decreased since Mayor John Norquist revealed he would be leaving office as of January 1, 2004, elevating Pratt to acting mayor for the final four months of the term.

And when will Clarke officially throw his hat in the ring – most political sources predicted it will around Labor Day. Feeling that he never got the same big kickoff as other mayoral candidates, former Congressman Thomas Barrett will hold a kickoff at the Milwaukee County Zoo on September 12.

“We are trying to round up Tom’s friends and supporters and make a statement about the strength and depth of Tom’s support in the city,” stated an e-mail invitation sent Barrett supporters and other politically active residents.

One political strategist said Barrett and his advisors made the decision to hold a kickoff event after seeing the media attention given to other recent candidate announcements, including Vince Bobbit’s, which was held in late July. Barrett announced his decision to run for mayor in a Sunday newspaper story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Barrett is considered the frontrunner of the ever-growing list of people that want to replace Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist.

“They are feeling like they never got the right play or visuals when he first announced,” the political strategist said. State Senator Gary George has sharply criticized Governor Jim Doyle and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for its lack of a commitment to set a specific percentage goal for minority businesses participation in the $810 million reconstruction of the Marquette Interchange in downtown Milwaukee.

In a letter to Doyle, George, a Milwaukee Democrat, said he had recommended that 50 percent of the work during the massive reconstruction project go to minority firms, a plan that was not supported by DOT officials.

“Given past failures, I feel that it is imperative for you to establish a minority business participation goal,” George wrote. “Set in advance, and made clear to everyone, the goal is more likely to be achieved. Without such a commitment and without such clarity, my constituents in the Sixth Senate District will again experience the minority business fiascoes of Miller Park, the Midwest Express Center and the Bradley Center, and will not receive the promised benefits from this project.”

George said the minority business participation in the $295 million Miller Park project, which opened in 2001, was a disappointment.

“It is my opinion, and the opinion of many of my constituents, that Miller Park did not significantly benefit the Sixth Senate District or Milwaukee’s minority business community in terms of jobs and contracts,” he wrote.

Doyle announced plans in late July for a slimmed down $810 million reconstruction of the Marquette Interchange. Originally, it had been slated to be an $890 million project. George said the announcement did not include specifics on minority participation in the program, other than to recommend the establishment of a committee to address the matter.

But, Rueben Anthony, deputy secretary of DOT, said the state agency was committed to ensuring active minority- and women-owned businesses and was working with two committees, made up elected officials and community representatives, to determine the appropriate goals for the projects.

He said during the $25 million design phase of the project, about $7.5 million, or 25 percent, went to minority- and women-owned businesses.

“We’ve already been very active in the Milwaukee community working with people to figure out what a reasonable goal that can be achieved,” he said. “We intend for this to be a very inclusive project.”

Prior to the project beginning in 2004, Anthony said a participation goal would be set.

George’s criticism of the Miller Park minority program did not sit well with Randy Crump, president of Prism Technology, the firm that oversaw the minority business program for the general contractor on the stadium project.

“Miller Park is absolutely a success story when it came to the number of minority firms who worked on the project,” Crump said. “As with anything, you can’t make everybody happy, but most people view this program as being very successful.”