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0000017a-3b40-d913-abfe-bf44a4f90000Howard Wilkinson joined the WVXU news team as the politics reporter and columnist in April 2012 , after 30 years of covering local, state and national politics for The Cincinnati Enquirer. On this page, you will find his weekly column, Politically Speaking; the Monday morning political chats with News Director Maryanne Zeleznik and other news coverage by Wilkinson. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Wilkinson has covered every Ohio gubernatorial race since 1974, as well as 16 presidential nominating conventions. Along with politics, Wilkinson also covered the 2001 Cincinnati race riots, the Lucasville prison riot in 1993, the Air Canada plane crash at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 1983, and the 1997 Ohio River flooding. And, given his passion for baseball, you might even find some stories about the Cincinnati Reds here from time to time.

Former Cincinnati Police District Captain To Run for Sheriff

Gary Lee campaign Facebook page

Gary Lee, a former Cincinnati Police Department captain, announced Monday he will run as a Republican for Hamilton County Sheriff in 2016.

But Lee may have competition for the GOP nomination. Retired assistant Cincinnati police chief Vince Demasi told WVXU Tuesday that he is "very seriously" considering leaving his present job as Mt. Healthy's police chief to run for sheriff. 

Demasi would have to give up the Mt. Healthy job in order to run; and he said that would be a key factor in his decision "because Mt. Healthy has been very good to me." 

The filing deadline for candidates in the March primary is Dec. 16. 

Hamilton County GOP chairman Alex Triantafilou said the party has no endorsed candidate at this point and the chairman said others may be interested in the job.

Lee, who formally annonced his candidacy Monday, is looking to unseat the incumbent Democrat, Jim Neil, a 30-year-veteran of the sheriff’s department. In 2012, Neil scored an upset for the Democrats by defeating retiring Sheriff Simon Leis’ hand-picked successor, Chief Deputy Sean Donovan.

Lee's campaign manager, Jamie Schwartz, said that if the party decides to make an endorsement in the race, "we will pursue it vigorously." He said Lee "has every intention to run through the primary." 

If Lee does not get the party endorsement, Schwartz said the Lee campaign "would re-evaluate, but we're not in any position to say what would happen." 

Lee spent 33 years in the Cincinnati Police Department, holding positions in the vice unit, special services section, inspection section and as the first commander of the fusion section, which focused on Homeland Security and crime analysis. His last assignment for the Cincinnati Police Department was as commander of District 1.

Since retiring from the police department, Lee has worked as a trauma therapist and taught criminal justice classes at the University of Cincinnati. He and his family live in Delhi Township. 

Howard Wilkinson is in his 50th year of covering politics on the local, state and national levels.