Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley personally approved millions in additional funding for his wife’s employer before writing to the county Ethics Board about another contract with the organization. Records reviewed by the Daily Caller show three increases that pushed a rental assistance agreement to $17.85 million. The approvals are drawing scrutiny as Crowley campaigns to become Wisconsin’s next governor.
Crowley became Milwaukee County executive in May 2020, and his wife, Ericka, joined Community Advocates the following month. The nonprofit received county funding to administer emergency rental assistance during the pandemic. Milwaukee County used a noncompetitive process to award the work under emergency procurement procedures. The arrangement put Crowley in a position to approve funding agreements benefiting an organization that employed his spouse.
The initial contract, awarded in July 2020, totaled $6.5 million. Crowley signed a $5 million increase on November 25th, 2020, raising its value to $11.5 million. He approved another $950,000 on January 12th, 2021, bringing the agreement to $12.45 million. On March 1st, 2021, he authorized an additional $5.4 million and extended the agreement through December 2021.
The Daily Caller reported that Crowley’s signature appeared on each increase, all approved after his wife joined the nonprofit. His May correspondence concerned an upcoming agreement. The letter did not indicate whether he had obtained similar legal guidance before signing the earlier increases. His campaign didn’t respond to the outlet’s request for comment.
In his May 7th, 2021, letter, Crowley disclosed his wife’s employment and defended the nonprofit’s selection, citing its county relationships and experience administering assistance. He said previous contracts, including an earlier rental assistance agreement, predated her employment. “My wife’s employment did not in any way influence the decision to award Community Advocates,” he wrote.
Crowley also told the Ethics Board that county attorneys had advised him the upcoming contract “remains proper.” He planned to sign it within the following week and provide his letter to county supervisors alongside the contract report. His correspondence invited board members to raise questions or concerns. Separately, campaign spokesperson Philip Shulman told Wisconsin Public Radio that supervisors publicly approved the spending and that the nonprofit’s rental assistance operation predated Crowley’s tenure.
Watch local news coverage and Crowley’s statement here:
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The disclosure timeline has become a central point of the Republican criticism. Wisconsin Public Radio reported that the county received Crowley’s first economic-interest statement identifying his wife’s employer on January 28th, 2021. By then, he’d approved the November and January increases. His March approval followed that financial disclosure but preceded the separate May letter to the Ethics Board.
The county’s financial relationship with Community Advocates extended beyond the agreement covered by those three increases. A county summary provided to WPR put total spending on state and federal Emergency Rental Assistance through the nonprofit at $79 million. That broader figure covers assistance from both levels of government, rather than the single contract described above. The county said the emergency rental assistance funding was awarded through a noncompetitive process.
Republican gubernatorial nominee U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany raised the funding arrangement on social media, and his campaign referred WPR’s questions to the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Party spokesperson Anika Rickard challenged Crowley’s signing of agreements before the ethics letter. She also criticized the absence of the family relationship from county announcements. “Think about that: taxpayer money was flowing out the door, at Crowley’s approval.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.