Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr., with his wife, Julie, at his side, addresses the crowd at an election night gathering at Jackson's Blue Ribbon Pub in Milwaukee. Credit: Michael Sears

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Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. edged Milwaukee police Lt. Chris Moews early Wednesday in a Democratic primary race that drew national attention and more than $600,000 in outside spending.

Clarke led by more than 4,700 votes with just the absentee ballots in the city of Milwaukee left to count, and shortly before midnight, Moews refused to concede. Shortly thereafter, Clarke told supporters he felt good about his chances but would not declare victory until all ballots were counted.

"We like where we're standing right now," he said.

When the last of the absentee ballots were counted early Wednesday, Clarke had beat Moews by 4,644 votes.

"Without the air support of talk radio, this would have been very difficult to do," Clarke said.

"In the end elections are about voters. They're about people. They're not about special interests. They're not about political parties. They're about people. They demonstrated their support for me tonight."

He thanked supporters, including Chris Cox of the National Rifle Association, and said he would have more to say on later Wednesday.

Interest in the race grew after former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's political action committee put up more than $150,000 to try to defeat Clarke and his pro-gun stance. In all, outside groups spent more than $550,000 to try to defeat Clarke in what became a political battle of gun control forces vs. Clarke, who received support from the National Rifle Association and other groups.

Faced with an avalanche of outside campaign dollars, Clarke said just days before the election: "I trust the voters. The voters can't be bought."

Clarke is all but assured of victory in November, because there is no Republican opposition and a little-known independent candidate, Angela Walker, running.

Although the sheriff's race started off fairly low-key, it soon took on national dimensions when Clarke, a favorite of the tea party and conservative talk radio, received support and a solicitation for campaign funds from the NRA.

"Make no mistake: Sheriff Clarke is fighting the re-election battle of his life right now because he dared to stand on principle by standing up for you, me and NRA," wrote Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action.

And Clarke received a great deal of campaign funds — $20, $50 and $100 — from many out-of-town contributors.

Then earlier this month, the ad war began when a Madison group called the Greater Wisconsin Committee purchased more than $400,000 worth of broadcast ads to oppose Clarke and support Moews. Although it's not clear who contributed to the committee, some speculate it could be Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, a multimillionaire who has clashed with Clarke.

And last week Bloomberg's political action committee, Independence USA, bought more than $150,000 in television ads and took aim at Clarke and his pro-gun stance that encourages residents to arm themselves for their own protection.

The local conservative Citizens for Responsible Government entered the race by buying more than $55,000 in TV time to support Clarke.

A local grass-roots group — Citizens for Urban Justice — bought more than $15,000 in radio ads targeted to African-American voters, to criticize Moews and support Clarke and thank him "for supporting our urban community." And the NRA said it spent $30,000 in support of Clarke.

Moews, 42, challenged Clarke, 57, four years ago and drew 47% of the vote to Clarke's 53%. Last time, he entered the race late. This time, he took time off from the Police Department to campaign.

Clarke, who was a captain at the Milwaukee Police Department, was appointed sheriff in 2002 by Republican Gov. Scott McCallum and won the job in elections in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

Before joining the MPD 20 years ago, Moews was with the Fox Point Police Department.

The two men presented voters with a stark contrast in look, style and tone.

With his penchant for wearing cowboy hats and riding a horse, Clarke has become one of the most recognizable and controversial public figures in the county. He calls himself a "take charge, tough on crime, don't coddle criminals" kind of sheriff.

He doesn't hesitate to call out public officials and made national news with his public safety announcement that urged residents to take gun-safety courses so they could defend themselves until 911 could respond.

He criticized Moews for his lack of executive experience and said he would be "a keep your head down, anonymous sheriff" who would be aligned with the political establishment.

Moews, who wears a crew cut, suits and is soft-spoken, fired back. "I'm about results, not rhetoric," he said.

He criticized Clarke on his leadership, his fiscal accountability and crime-fighting efforts. He urged more cooperation with suburban communities and said he believed the sheriff's budget had been cut in recent years because county leaders had lost faith in Clarke's ability to manage tax dollars.

He had the support of Mayor Tom Barrett, Abele and other Democratic and elected officials.

"We've had 12 years of his dog and pony show," said Moews. "Clarke is not tough on crime, he's loud on crime. We need a real sheriff, not a fake cowboy."

County treasurer: On Tuesday, County Supervisor David Cullen defeated former state treasurer Dawn Marie Sass in a special election to fill the unexpired term of Milwaukee County Treasurer Daniel Diliberti, who has retired. The term expires in April 2017.

Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.