Eric Hovde accuses Milwaukee Democrats of defunding police despite a $20 million budget increase last year

Last Saturday, Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde blamed Milwaukee’s crime rates on “Defund the Police” policies, even though the city increased funding for law enforcement last year.

Hovde shared a clip from an appearance on “The Clay and Buck Show” on X where he recalled a recent visit to Milwaukee and said citizens voiced their concerns about crime. Hovde’s X post listed “the left’s dystopian vision of de-funding the police” as the reason for high crime.

During my recent visit to Milwaukee, the number one issue I heard from folks that they’re concerned about is the rise of crime in our major cities.

The left’s dystopian vision of de-funding the police is not how we make our cities safer.

You have my word, I’ll ALWAYS have the… pic.twitter.com/DKnvMgVb2p

— Eric Hovde (@EricHovde) February 25, 2024

Hovde’s post prompted a response from Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson (D), who pointed out that his 2023 budget increased funding for the city’s law enforcement by $20 million. Although crime statistics show a 16% increase in carjackings from 2022 to 2023, the Milwaukee Police Department’s website also shows decreases in most serious crime categories in that same time span, including homicide, motor vehicle theft and arson rates.

I can’t speak as to what’s happening in California’s major cities but, here in Wisconsin’s major city, we never defunded the police.

In fact, my 2023 budget increased funding for law enforcement by $20 million and in 2024, my city budget funds the maximum number of police… https://t.co/zROSE5ax5F pic.twitter.com/JezqrmqgZl

— Cavalier Johnson (@CavalierJohnson) February 25, 2024

Hovde, the owner and CEO of a $2.8 billion West Coast bank, recently announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D). Although he grew up in Wisconsin, Hovde’s California presence have generated comparisons to Dr. Mehmet Oz’s similarly loose ties to Pennsylvania in his failed 2022 campaign. Hovde and his wife also lived in Washington D.C. for 23 years before moving back to Wisconsin in 2012 for his first U.S. Senate run.