Bloomberg's Money Can't Buy Milwaukee County Sheriff's Race

Like in Colorado last year, Bloomberg's money could not defeat a pro-rights candidate in Tuesday's Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Sheriff Democratic Primary.  According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sheriff David Clarke was able to overcome $600,000 in outside money to win what amounts to re-election.  Much of that outside money came from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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.

Last year in Colorado, Bloomberg spent upwards of $350,000 in an attempt to defeat the recall of two anti-gun Democrat state senators.  Tuesday, the big money from Bloomberg and others ended up working to Clarke's favor.

"In the end, we turned this and used it against them," Clarke said. "They were my get-out-the vote. They raised my base. They energized my base."

While Bloomberg was pouring in the big bucks, it appears that gun owners from out of state were chipping in small donations to Sheriff Clarke.  So, Bloomberg has another high profile defeat.  Wonder if he is reconsidering spending that $50 million leading up to November?

Update: The Wall Street Journal had this piece on its Washington Wire Blog talking about Tuesday's result underscoring the limits of Bloomberg's clout.

In the last year, Mr. Bloomberg has also struggled to persuade state lawmakers in Oregon, Washington State and Nevada to pass laws expanding background checks on gun purchases.

Of course the Journal blog had to bring Virginia's 2013 Governor's race up to show that not all of Bloomberg's efforts have fallen flat:

He threw more than $1.5 million behind Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s successful campaign for governor.

None of the media mention the fact that Bloomberg did not become active in the Virginia race until polls showed McAuliffe with a sizable lead, nor that the final margin ended up being less than 2%.  And, Bloomberg lost a House of Delegates race in Northern Virginia and 65 of 67 pro-rights candidates won House Races in the 2013 election.

And, the Journal blog claimed Bloomberg has had success in advancing is cause in some large corporations:

But the ex-mayor has made more headway in the corporate world, where he’s pushed companies like Target, Chipotle and Starbucks to take stands against customers bringing guns into their stores.

Yet the Journal did not mention none of the three instituted an outright ban in their stores or restaurants.