Meet the candidates running for St. Louis County Sheriff

DULUTH, MN. (KBJR) - Three candidates are running to be St. Louis County’s top cop.

Jason Lukovsky is currently St. Louis County’s Undersheriff, serving alongside current Sheriff Ross Litman.

Litman has served as Sheriff for over 20 years, and has endorsed Lukovsky in the race.

“I’ve been working for the Sheriff’s office for 24 years,” Lukovsky said, “I have achieved every rank within out organization and have worked in or supervised in every division.”

He graduated from the University of Minnesota - Duluth and has lived in the area his entire life.

Lukovsky wants to tackle deputy recruitment and the opioid crisis that has gripped the county.

“Breaking records yearly so we need to focus on how are we going to, as a community, address those issues with substance abuse disorders,” he said.

Lukovsky also wants to tackle the rise in gun violence.

“In my opinion, it’s disturbing that there is a lack of compassion for human life,” he said, “whether it’s gun violence or any other type of gun violence, where did we go wrong? how do we get back to the core values.”

Meanwhile, Former Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay said the Sheriff’s Office needs to end illegal gun use.

“Law enforcement is frustrated that they can’t bring in, you know, people that are out creating and raising havoc in our communities, that needs to change,” he said.

Ramsay, also a UMD grad, was the Duluth Police Chief until 2016, before he held the same job in Wichita, Kansas.

“I have the experience, we’ve done all this, you know we reduced crime 14% in Duluth,” Ramsay said, “we built strong relationships with our communities of people of all different backgrounds.”

He wants to work with multiple partners to find solutions for those in the system.

“Right now not all cylinders are firing as they should be in the criminal justice system and we need to fix that,” he said.

Chad Walsh hasn’t ran for office before but he says that’s a good thing.

“I bring a fresh perspective to this,” Walsh said, “Yes, with a law enforcement experience, but also a business background and a people background.”

Walsh served in the Army after he graduated from Hermantown High School. He now owns Dead on Arms, a Cloquet shooting range.

Walsh wants to recruit more deputies to the Sheriff’s Office.

“I can tell you right now that the first thing we need to do is we need to show the deputies that they’re appreciated,” he said, “and we need to open up a line of communication between the deputies and the public.”

Walsh said it’s going to take a tough approach to drive down gun violence.

“We have to be firm on crime, that is the first place to start. The other side is the education side, I think the education side is very important and we miss that side,” he said.

The Minnesota State Primary Election is on August 9.

Voters should confirm they are registered to vote prior to visiting the polling place. However, the quickest way to confirm registration, or become registered, is online.

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