Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke speaks out following victory

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee County election commission is now reporting 100% of the precincts in the primary race for Milwaukee County sheriff.



Officials tell CBS 58 Sheriff David Clarke has 52 percent of the vote, compared to 48 percent for Milwaukee police Lt. Chris Moews.



Moews was holding out hope any outstanding absentee ballots would give him the edge over the Sheriff, but eventually conceded the race.

The candidate's campaign team says Moews is out of town Wednesday and instead, released a statement about the election.



It reads, “The voters have spoken, and I accept the results. With twice as many voters in this election than four years ago, there’s a brighter spotlight shining on the work of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.



Moews continues, “I hope the sheriff will set politics aside, reconsider his go-it-alone approach and work collaboratively and respectfully with law enforcement and municipal leaders to truly make our community safer and stronger.”

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke mentioned Moews shots at him in the concession statement during an afternoon news conference.

During a news conference, Sheriff Clarke called the amount of outside spending on the Milwaukee County Sheriff's race unprecedented. At his campaign rally Tuesday night, Sheriff Clarke apologized to his parents for having to witness the negative things said about him in those ads. Sheriff Clarke told reporters Milwaukee County Executive Abele is the guy who tried to run him out of office, and accused him of funding his opponent Chris Moews.

Many have talked about Sheriff's Clarke's inability to work with other officials. \"I work regularly with the justice council, which is the people in the criminal justice system, and we all get along pretty well,\" said County Executive Abele. \"It doesn't mean we agree on stuff all the time, but everyone treats each other with respect. If we disagree we call each other up, not send out a press release and I believe the county would be better off if we had a sheriff who did the same. That's my opinion.\"

Sheriff Clarke called County Executive Abele's offers to work cooperatively \"empty rhetoric\" and \"disingenuous\". 

If Sheriff Clarke finishes out this term, he will be the longest serving sheriff in Milwaukee County history.

Near the end of his news conference, Sheriff Clarke expressed interest in teaching the next generation of law enforcement at a university.