Guess Who David Crowley Blames for Milwaukee County's High Taxes and Fiscal Mess

This is not what leadership looks like. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley wants to be the next Governor of Wisconsin, but his record as the head of the state's most populous county is a big negative against him. Milwaukee has the highest effective tax rate in the state, the highest sales tax in the state, and the most crime out of the 72 counties in America's Dairyland.

That buck stops with Crowley, who has been the Executive since 2020. During his tenure, he raised property taxes and doubled the sales tax for Milwaukee County residents. But instead of taking responsibility for that, Crowley is blaming Scott Walker, the Republican who hasn't been County Executive for more than a decade at this point.

David Crowley blames Scott Walker for why he raised property taxes and nearly doubled the sales tax on the residents of Milwaukee County.

Scott Walker left the Milwaukee Executive Office over a full decade before Crowley was elected and went on his tax hiking spree. pic.twitter.com/OzMXVSMO4C

— Tiffany War Room (@TiffanyWarRoom) August 16, 2026

"What he won't tell you is that we're picking up the mess that actually Scott Walker actually left for us," Crowley said. Scott Walker left office in 2011. After Walker, Democrats Lee Holloway, Marvin Pratt, and Chris Abele served as Executives.

In his final budget proposal, Walker recommended a budget of $1.31 billion, which was about a ten percent decrease from the previous budget and featured a flat or slightly reduced property tax levy. In short, the budget mess was not Scott Walker's fault.

I give @mattsmith_news credit for actually asking the question. Most reporters are handling Crowley as delicately as a Fabergé Egg.

— The Badger Pundit (@JamesBohnWI) August 16, 2026

It's a refreshing change of pace.

Regardless of the reasons, it appears @DavidCrowleyWI only has one solution: Raise taxes.

— Jocular Josh 🇺🇸 (@lifeasjosh) August 16, 2026

That's what Democrats do: tax and spend.

This would be like me blaming Tommy Thompson for something he did more than a decade before I took office as Governor. It is ridiculous and the media shouldn’t let David Crowley get away with this lie. He screwed up his county and raised taxes to the highest in the state. https://t.co/Z2JcU4S0Wh

— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) August 16, 2026

But Scott Walker was a leader. Crowley is not.

It's astounding that Wisconsin liberals are still blaming Scott Walker.
At some point you have to take some ownership. https://t.co/9waXpzZ1Uf

— Bobacheck (@Bobacheck) August 16, 2026

Milwaukee County remains a fiscal train wreck, however.

MKE County is the state's largest fiscal train wreck.

What did Crowley do to right the listing ship?

He attended college full-time as county executive and had taxpayers pick up the cost of his tuition. @DavidCCrowley leads from the rear. @WisDems @EricJBott @EBrooksUncut https://t.co/Lz1p2nOZJp

— Steve Spingola (@MilwSpinny) August 16, 2026

There's a reason Crowley dropped out of the race on July 9.

Crowley is unpopular in Milwaukee County. He barely beat Hong in the county.

David Crowley is so disliked in MKE County that he barely beat a socialist dits on his own turf.

Almost 2/3s of WI's murders occur in one county - Milwaukee.

Crowley's response: The number of sheriff's deputies has been cut by 40% from where it was in 2015. @DavidCrowleyWI https://t.co/wmV7gX8XgQ

— Steve Spingola (@MilwSpinny) August 17, 2026

Democrats will never take responsibility for the disasters they cause. The entire Democrat platform is to resist MAGA and ICE. Crowley himself said he's no different than Francesca Hong in terms of policy. That means the same failed leadership that has harmed Milwaukee County will simply go to Madison, and ruin the entire state.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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