Michael Alfonso, a 26-year-old accountant from Hayward, has won Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, making him the youngest member of the incoming Congress. The Republican defeated Democrat Fred Clark, a former state lawmaker, in Tuesday’s election.
Alfonso will take the seat previously held by his father-in-law, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and most recently by Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., who chose not to seek re-election so he could run for governor.
“As the youngest member of Congress and a new dad, I have a personal stake in our future, and I’m going to Washington with one job: put Wisconsin and America first by making life affordable, restoring the American Dream, and putting the prosperity of American citizens above all else,” Alfonso told Fox News Digital.
Alfonso works as an accountant for the Diocese of Superior and lives in Hayward with his wife, Evita Duffy-Alfonso, and their 5-month-old daughter. Before his political career, he worked in construction and concrete while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and later spent time in Florida producing “The Dan Bongino Show.”
He received endorsements from both President Donald Trump and his father-in-law. Trump called him a “MAGA warrior” and a “young ‘STAR'” when he backed the campaign in May. Duffy, who represented the district before taking his Cabinet post, pointed to his son-in-law’s blue-collar roots during an August appearance on NewsNation’s “Morning in America.”
“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.
Alfonso campaigned on affordability, help for first-time homebuyers, lowering healthcare costs and protecting individual freedoms. He has also pledged to introduce legislation strengthening Title IX protections to restrict transgender women and girls from using facilities designated for women.
His age and lack of political experience drew criticism during the campaign, including from fellow Republicans who raised questions about nepotism given his family ties and donor base. Alfonso pushed back on those concerns in an Election Day interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“What has experience gotten us at the congressional level? Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, I mean, Joe Biden was a senator for a long time … we tried that already,” Alfonso said. “It’s not working.”
Alfonso, born in February 2000, is set to head to Washington in January.
