Sean Duffy’s son-in-law launches GOP bid for Wisconsin Congress seat

Exclusive — Michael Alfonso, the grandson of Cuban refugees who fled communism and who helped pay for his college by working construction and paving roads, on Wednesday launched a congressional GOP bid for an open seat in a heavily Republican House district in northern Wisconsin.

“I’m running for congress because Northern Wisconsin needs to continue to have a representative who puts our families, our communities, and America first,” Alfonso said in a statement shared first with Fox News Digital.

Alfonso, whom his campaign describes as a “pro-Trump conservative,” is the son-in-law of Sean Duffy, who serves as transportation secretary under President Donald Trump. He is running for the congressional seat that Duffy held for a decade. It’s the same seat currently held by incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who launched his 2026 campaign for governor last month.

“I was born and raised with traditional Wisconsin values ​​of faith, community and hard work — and now I’m ready to give back to the area that has given me so much,” said 25-year-old Alfonso.

He lamented that he “watched the American dream continue to slip away from the people who deserve it.”

In a video accompanying the campaign launch, Alfonso said: “Our region needs to bring high-paying jobs, so people can plant their roots, raise their families here, and build a future they can be proud of.”

“Because when young people can’t move forward, they start listening to the lies of socialism,” he added, under images of Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro and Cuban Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, interspersed with images of progressive heroes Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, along with democratic socialist Zahran Mamdani, the front-runner in this year’s race for mayor of New York City.

“My grandparents’ decision to flee communist Cuba to ensure a better life for our family should not be in vain,” Alfonso says in his video. “The radical left wants to change this country to be what my grandfather, and many before and after him, fled their countries of origin.” “We cannot allow that to happen, and I will fight every day to ensure that Wisconsin, and this nation, continues to provide us with the freedoms and opportunities that my ancestors came here for.”

Sean Duffy, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, speaks during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Alfonso also pledged that if elected, “I will work with President Trump to reform government, keep us safe, and lower the cost of energy, food, and housing.”

House District, which includes most of northwestern and north-central Wisconsin, is solid red. Trump won by 22 points in last year’s presidential election, and Tiffany won re-election to a third term by 27 points.

Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin is campaigning for governor rather than running for re-election in the 2026 election. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Alfonso joins a GOP primary field that includes conservative businessman and attorney Paul Wasgren and public relations expert Jesse Ebbin.

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Business owner Chris Armstrong and former state Rep. Fred Clark launched campaigns for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the area.