A Wisconsin governor’s race is getting personal. Republicans are raising questions about millions in public funds that flowed to a nonprofit employing Democratic candidate David Crowley’s wife — and Crowley’s campaign is pushing back hard, saying the attacks cross a line.
At the center of the dispute is Community Advocates, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit that received tens of millions of dollars in emergency rental assistance funds distributed through Milwaukee County during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crowley has served as Milwaukee County Executive since being sworn in in May 2020. His wife, Ericka Crowley, joined Community Advocates as an employee in June 2020, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The issue was first surfaced by the conservative site Daily Caller. Republican gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany of Minocqua amplified the story on social media Tuesday. When WPR reached out to Tiffany’s campaign for comment, it directed questions to the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Anika Rickard zeroed in on the sequence of Crowley’s public disclosures. She noted that contracts with Community Advocates were executed before Crowley formally flagged his wife’s employment to an ethics board.
“On top of that, every County announcement is silent on the family connection. Think about that: taxpayer money was flowing out the door, at Crowley’s approval.”
— Anika Rickard, Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson
What the Records Show
According to Milwaukee County, a total of $79 million in state and federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds was directed to Community Advocates. County officials say the money was distributed through a noncompetitive process specifically authorized under the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration.
Emily Tau, Milwaukee County’s director of public affairs, explained the urgency driving those decisions:
“Residents facing eviction needed emergency funding fast and the funding needed to be distributed within a short period of time.”
Crowley did disclose his wife’s position at Community Advocates in his first statement of economic interest, filed with the county on Jan. 28, 2021. He followed that with a letter to the Milwaukee County Ethics Board dated May 7, 2021, which appeared in the Milwaukee County Board’s agenda packet when it reviewed some of the grants that month. Between Crowley’s first day in office in May 2020 and that May 2021 letter, the county had approved $17.85 million in federal COVID relief funds to Community Advocates.
In the 2021 letter, Crowley addressed the situation directly, writing that Community Advocates was selected for rental assistance funding because of
“long-standing ties between Milwaukee County and their organization.”
He added:
“My wife’s employment did not in any way influence the decision to award Community Advocates, and we have had many contracts with their organization – including a prior contract to disburse a previous tranche of Rental Assistance Funding – that were initiated and executed prior to my wife joining their organization as an employee.”
The letter also noted that the county’s attorney had advised him the contract
“remains proper”
and that he intended to sign it the following week.
Crowley’s campaign told WPR that the partnership between Milwaukee County and Community Advocates dates back to 2007 — years before Crowley ever held office. Campaign spokesperson Philip Shulman offered additional context in a written statement:
“Community Advocates launched their rent help program on April 1, before David was even County Executive. When the county’s pandemic relief money came in, it plugged into the program that was already working, run by a partner the county had trusted for over two decades under Republicans and Democrats alike. Every dollar was approved by the County Board in public, and David went above and beyond to disclose.”
Crowley was asked about the matter at a Tuesday press conference in Milwaukee, where he had gathered to announce his platform to regulate artificial intelligence. He told reporters the question itself represented a troubling turn in the campaign:
“For Tom Tiffany to be going after my family,”
Crowley said,
“is just a new low.”