A 26-year-old congressional candidate accused of riding the coattails of his famous father-in-law, Sean Duffy, has defended bringing him on several last-minute primary stops.
Michael Alfonso, the Trump-endorsed candidate running for Congress in the Wisconsin House district that Duffy once held, argued the transportation secretary was simply introducing him to voters.
“He just wants to, you know, remind the voters that this guy, this young 26-year-old, he’s got the energy of someone in their 20s, but the values of someone in the 7th district: faith, family, and freedom,” he told a local news outlet, WSAW, as Duffy joined him on the campaign Sunday.
Duffy also tagged along with Alfonso and his wife, Evita Duffy, the eldest of Duffy’s nine children, to several stops at a local fair on Friday.
His campaign has also been promoted online by his mother-in-law, Rachel Campos Duffy, a Fox & Friends weekend host, on her social media accounts.
Alfonso even recruited his father-in-law to do a TV hit with him on NewsNation on Monday, during which he was directly asked about the nepo charges.
“I’m not gonna apologize for marrying my middle school sweetheart,” he said when asked about the allegations, adding, “I’m gonna talk about the things that really matter to the voters. I’m the hardest working one; I put 60,000 miles on my car in nine months.”
Duffy, seated next to him in a Wausau diner, defended his son-in-law’s candidacy by pointing to his experience working in construction as evidence that he has what it takes to be in Congress.
“I think it’d be great to have someone who knows how to put on a pair of jeans and a pair of boots and a hard hat and work his butt off 12 hours a day,” Duffy said.
While Alfonso has attempted to distance himself from the nepo charges, it still appears that his campaign has been heavily aided by Duffy’s connections.
Duffy, who now lives in an affluent northern New Jersey town with his wife and several of his children, funneled $1 million from his campaign committee to a super PAC supporting his son-in-law’s campaign for his old House seat.
Transportation lobbyists have also poured money into his campaign, an unlikely move given the rural nature of the district and that there are no major airports within it. Some of these donations include $5,000 from Delta Air Lines PAC, $2,500 from Southwest Airlines PAC, and $1,000 from the U.S. Travel Association PAC.
Alfonso is also using the fundraising consultant that Duffy had employed, Wisconsin Watch reported.
Despite the lack of political experience, President Donald Trump gave Alfonso his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in the race, calling him a “MAGA Warrior” and a “young ‘STAR.’”
Trump even made an appearance with his third wife, Melania Trump, at his wedding to Evita in 2022, as the reception took place at his New Jersey golf course.
But Alfonso has been heavily criticized by Republicans in his own district over his work history, or more so the lack thereof.
John Righeimer, GOP chairman in the county where Alfonso lives, has called out Alfonso for having “minimal life experience and job experience,” and asserted he is being pushed by a “machine.”
“When I suggested to a high level Alfonso staffer that Alfonso should start at school board, county board, or State Assembly I was told that, ‘Anything less than Congress is beneath Sean and Rachel’s paygrade,’” he wrote in a recent Facebook post. “This encapsulates the greed and arrogance of this entire con.”
The exact details of his work history remain unclear, as does whether he currently remains employed.
He also has no experience in local politics, as before his current campaign, he had never run for elected office. The Daily Beast has repeatedly reached out to Alfonso’s campaign for comment, but has not received a response.
He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in December 2022, according to the university’s records. He pursued a degree in math because, as he put it, “liberal arts stuff at UW-Madison is a nightmare.”
Post-grad and throughout college, he has said he worked in construction pouring cement. He and his wife later moved to Florida to work on the production team for The Dan Bongino Show, the podcast of the right-wing conspiracy theorist and former FBI deputy director.
Alfonso has defended his limited work experience, saying earlier this year, “What has experience ever gotten us?” and saying that Trump’s endorsement “carries more” weight than experience.
“And, I do think I have as much experience as really anyone in this because it’s about life experience,” he added.
In the face of the nepotism allegations, he and Evita have also been on an online rampage, posting pictures of themselves at their private, Catholic high school to prove they have lived in northern Wisconsin their whole lives, aside from their brief gig in Florida.
Duffy held the 7th Congressional District seat for nearly a decade before he resigned in 2019. MAGA Rep. Tom Tiffany succeeded him, but is now running for Wisconsin governor, leaving the seat open again.
Alfonso is facing four other opponents in Tuesday’s primary election: Niina Baum, a local business owner; Don Raihala, a businessman; Jessi Ebben, a previously failed congressional candidate; and Kevin Hermening, a former Marine and longtime local GOP organizer.
The district leans heavily Republican, meaning whoever wins the primary will likely go on to win the general election in November.
