Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial nominee David Crowley oversaw Milwaukee County’s distribution of more than $65 million in federal rental assistance through a nonprofit that employed his wife, The Daily Caller first reported Monday.
Milwaukee County distributed $65.4 million in Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) funds through its partnership with Community Advocates since June 2020, according to a November 2022 county press release. The funds, aimed at renters facing housing insecurity, continued under Crowley’s tenure as county executive, which began that year. A separate $15 million Treasury Department allocation announced that November was also directed through the Community Advocates partnership.
Ericka Crowley began working at Community Advocates in 2020, the same year her husband took office, according to a 2026 interview she gave to Civic Media. She was later promoted to director of the Rental Housing Resource Center and is currently listed in that role on the center’s website. Community Advocates told The Daily Caller she was hired “based on her twenty years of experience administering programs for underserved individual families in Milwaukee County” and that her compensation “aligns with other managers.” The organization did not say whether she received a raise with the promotion.
Community Advocates confirmed to The Daily Caller that Crowley ultimately approved the contract with the nonprofit but said he “did not influence the decision making process for the ERA2 funding.” Crowley’s campaign did not respond to The Daily Caller’s questions about his role in approving or overseeing the arrangement, any disclosure of a potential conflict of interest, or awareness of changes to his wife’s compensation.
The county’s 2022 press release stated that the ERA2 program had prevented evictions for 12,000 unique households. Data cited by the county showed that 74% of assisted households had incomes below 30% of the area median, 76% were Black, and 76% of recipients were female.
Crowley is the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin governor. He faces Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in the Nov. 3 general election.
