Uncle Luke Political Dream Crushed, Loses MIA Mayoral Election

Rap veteran Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell will have to seek alternative ways to help the city of Miami after losing in the city's mayoral election last night (May 24).

According to reports, Uncle Luke placed fourth in the Miami election.

The race to be the next Miami-Dade County mayor is down to two, after voters threw their support behind former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and former County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez but failed to give either candidate more than 50 percent of the votes required to crown a winner. Trailing behind the two front-runners: former state legislator Marcelo Llorente, with 27,699 votes, or 15 percent, and Luther "Luke" Campbell, the former front man for 2 Live Crew, who won 20,663 votes, or 11 percent. (Miami Herald)

Since a winner was not decided last night, a runoff will take place late next month.

The special vote, the result of a mid-March recall of then-sitting mayor Carlos Alvarez, drew an underwhelming turnout, with just 14.9% of the 1.2 million registered voters casting ballots. The June 28 runoff will pit Julio Robaina, mayor of Hialeah, a city northwest of Miami, against Carlos Gimenez, a former Miami-Dade county commissioner. Mr. Robaina received 34% of the 178,095 tallied votes, while Mr. Gimenez landed 29%. (Wall Street Journal)

Earlier this year, Luke said if elected mayor, he would place a tax on adult entertainment.

"When you're in the music business and you're as controversial as our group [was] throughout the years, you kind of have to know politics," Campbell tells Rolling Stone. "There have been so many years where I already was thinking about running for office. It just wasn't the proper time..If we do a stripper tax - take that money, set it aside, and have it go directly to youth programs as well as battered women programs that have been cut back - I would think that the strippers and exotic dancers will be happy about that, because they'll see their money going to something that's good." (Rolling Stone)

Imagining himself as mayor, Luke also previously said he would enforce exotic dancers to pay taxes to better the community.

"Even though all my stripper friends are gonna be mad at me, I think we can stimulate the economy with a tax on strippers. They make all this money and don't pay taxes. I'd take that cash and put it into a fund where it supports youth athletics for girls like cheerleading or softball. Or it can go to help pay for existing little girls programs that are struggling to get government assistance." (Miami New Times)