Milwaukee County is spending federal taxpayer dollars on an hourlong radio segment hosted by a Democrat political strategist who is now openly helping to turn out votes for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley’s campaign.
According to Milwaukee County’s 2024 Recovery Plan Performance Report, the county used federal COVID-19 grant money to fund community outreach efforts through its Office of Equity that included Michelle Bryant and the station on which she broadcasts, WNOV Radio.
“The OOE sponsors a year-round radio promotion of ‘Say Something Real with Michelle Bryant’ on WNOV,” the County explained in the report. “This consists of an hour-long segment in which the OOE invites Milwaukee County department representatives to discuss programs, services, and events. In addition, departments discuss how they contribute to Milwaukee County’s vision for health and racial equity.”
As the plan notes, “in 2019, Milwaukee County was the first jurisdiction in the United States to declare racism a public health crisis” and as a result, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit a year later, “$183 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) was allocated to serve the hardest-hit areas of the community.”
Milwaukee County then directed a portion of those funds to Bryant’s radio show, on which Crowley appeared as a gubernatorial candidate several times since launching his run last year. Bryant has also been an outspoken on-air advocate for Crowley’s campaign and even visited Rufus King High School in Milwaukee to register students to vote in the upcoming election (presumably for him).
Bryant, the host of “Say Something Real,” is described on WNOV’s website as “a political strategist, president of CMB Consulting & Associates, and a weekly columnist for the Milwaukee Courier Newspaper.” She also served as former State Senator Lena Taylor’s chief of staff. In 2020, she was suspended for two weeks for using her show to promote Taylor’s candidacy for Milwaukee Mayor.
She appears to be doing the same for Crowley, only this time she is receiving federal funds from the county Crowley runs to do so. Crowley officially entered the Wisconsin governor’s race on September 9, 2025. That same day, he appeared on Bryant’s show in an extended interview promoting his candidacy.
On June 4, 2026 Crowley also used the show to give listeners his campaign text line and website during another lengthy appearance. Over the past year, Bryant has repeatedly touted Crowley’s candidacy on her show without ever disclosing that it is being funded in part by Milwaukee County taxpayers.
That raises a serious ethical and legal question. If Milwaukee County public money is being used to promote programming on which a candidate for governor discusses his candidacy, where is the firewall between taxpayer funded government communication and political campaigning?
The Heartland Post has already raised concerns about Bryant taking part in get-out-the-vote efforts in Milwaukee Public Schools. Our previous reporting documented her discussion of visiting Rufus King International High School with the League of Women Voters to help register students ahead of an election.
If a political strategist is participating in voter registration activities involving public school students while simultaneously hosting a political program funded by tax dollars funneled to it by a gubernatorial candidate, the public must necessarily ask what ensures that said strategist is not engaging in hyper-partisan political campaigning on the public’s dime.
There is an important distinction here: Voter registration is not the same thing as campaigning for a candidate. The evidence reviewed here establishes Michelle Bryant’s political strategist role, David Crowley’s appearances on her program, and his gubernatorial candidacy. It does not, by itself, prove that Michelle Bryant urged MPS students to vote for David Crowley.
However, using her radio show to promote a gubernatorial candidate who has directed public funds to promotion of that show could present serious ethical and even legal problems. Federal law expressly prohibits grants such as the one Milwaukee County used on “attempts to influence the outcomes of any Federal, State, or local election, referendum, initiative, or similar procedure through in-kind or cash contributions, endorsements, publicity, or similar activity.”
Crowley appearing on Bryant’s show to promote his candidacy would seem to be a direct violation of this, especially since the public funding was never disclosed.
Moreover, Wisconsin law restricts the use of public resources for political campaigning. Local governments such as Milwaukee County are not allowed to spend public money (including federal pass-through funds like SLRF grants) for campaign advocacy.
If the OOE sponsorship effectively subsidized airtime used for express advocacy or unambiguous promotion of Crowley’s gubernatorial candidacy and not solely its stated purpose of discussing Milwaukee County programs and services, it constitutes an unauthorized expenditure.
Deborah Prinze and Heartland Post Editor-in-Chief Dan O’Donnell contributed to this report.
