Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy insisted Monday his son-in-law’s congressional bid was winning “not because of me,” even as federal records showed he had funneled $1 million to the race.
His 26-year-old son-in-law, Michael Alfonso, is running in Tuesday’s Republican primary for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District — the seat Duffy himself once held.
Duffy lobbied President Donald Trump to endorse Alfonso, sent $1 million from his old campaign account to a super PAC backing the race, the Badger Project reported, and campaigned alongside him two days before the vote.
On NewsNation Monday morning, host Marni Hughes pressed both men on the nepotism charge during a live campaign-trail interview in Wausau.
“I’m not gonna apologize for marrying my middle school sweetheart,” Alfonso replied.
“I’m gonna talk about the things that really matter to the voters,” Alfonso continued. “I’m the hardest working one.”
“[Y]ou’ve got to work your tail off,” Duffy said at the Blue Willow Diner, invoking his own first race against a 42-year Democratic incumbent. “And that’s what Michael has done.”
The transportation secretary became defensive as he explained the Alfonso campaign’s success.
“[N]ot because of me, not because of President Trump — but President Trump has endorsed him,” Duffy said. “…[T]his is the first time I’ve been on the campaign trail with him.”
“I have a full-time job myself — more than a full-time job, really busy,” he insisted.
Federal records tell a different story, the Badger Project reported. Duffy’s old campaign committee sent $1 million — half its holdings — to the Northwoods Future PAC, which spent all of it supporting Alfonso.
Republican megadonor Richard Uihlein added another $1 million to the same PAC, according to the Badger Project.
The money flowing to Alfonso’s campaign extends well beyond his family, ProPublica reported.
Transportation industry lobbyists and PACs — including those for Delta Air Lines, Lockheed Martin and General Motors — donated thousands to Alfonso’s campaign while Duffy oversees the agencies that regulate them, ProPublica reported. Southwest Airlines’ PAC gave an additional $2,500, the Wall Street Journal also reported.
The family ties extend further. Alfonso appeared in the trailer for Duffy’s corporate-sponsored YouTube road trip series, which counted Boeing and Toyota among its platinum-level sponsors, Forbes reported.
A spokesperson for Alfonso’s campaign also sits on the board of the nonprofit that produced the series, Politico reported.
“The idea of using family connections to get ahead is not a new thing,” Brendan Glavin, director of insights for OpenSecrets, told the Badger Project. “It’s an age-old thing. And certainly in politics, it’s nothing new.”
“There’s a very large gulf between what is legal and what is ethical,” Daniel Weiner, director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told ProPublica. “Obviously, this raises numerous ethical questions.”
At least one Republican challenger agrees, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“It for sure is,” Kevin Hermening, a Republican challenger who spent 24 years chairing his county’s GOP, told the Journal when asked if the race was a classic case of political nepotism.
“I’ve not heard anybody say it’s not,” Hermening added.
The primary is Tuesday, Aug. 11, in a district that backed Trump by more than 20 percentage points in 2024, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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