Republican Michael Alfonso, the 26-year-old son-in-law of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, is poised to become the youngest member of Congress in U.S. history.
Alfonso secured roughly 56 percent of the vote in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, defeating Clark, who received about 44 percent. He sought the seat after Republican Tom Tiffany gave it up to run for governor, a bid he ultimately lost.
The Associated Press declared Alfonso the winner at about 10 p.m. Unofficial results showed him ahead 56.1 percent to 43.9 percent, with 79 percent of ballots counted.
His election places him in Congress at a younger age than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was 29 when she won her first House election in 2018.
Ocasio-Cortez later lost the distinction of being the youngest member of Congress to Democrat Maxwell Frost, who was elected at 25 in 2022 and is now 29.
Alfonso will now claim that title from Frost.
Married to Duffy’s daughter, Evita, Alfonso will also become the first member of Congress born in the 2000s.
Alfonso married Evita Duffy, the daughter of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy, on June 24, 2022, at one of President Trump’s golf courses in New Jersey.
Although critics questioned his age and experience, Alfonso made his youth a central theme of his campaign and pledged to advance the president’s agenda.
Alfonso’s campaign received $1 million transferred from Duffy’s former congressional campaign account to a political action committee backing his candidacy.
His victory followed a contentious Republican primary in which his family ties and limited political background drew intense scrutiny.
President Donald Trump endorsed the 26-year-old as a “MAGA Warrior,” while Duffy played an active role in campaigning for his son-in-law.
Duffy represented the same Wisconsin district in Congress from 2011 through 2020, when he left the House.
According to reporting from PBS Wisconsin, Alfonso’s campaign also benefited from $1 million moved from Duffy’s former congressional campaign account to a political action committee supporting the race.
Raised in northern Wisconsin, Alfonso graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
His previous work included construction and producing content for the Dan Bongino Show.
Rather than downplaying concerns about his age, Alfonso made it a central element of his campaign, saying younger Americans need a more influential voice in Washington.
His platform focused on affordability, conservative social policies and support for Trump’s political agenda.
Among his proposals were making the president’s tax cuts permanent and pursuing policies intended to reduce healthcare and housing costs.
He also supported legislation that would limit access to girls’ bathrooms to biological females.
Alfonso and Evita married on June 24, 2022, when both were 22, at one of Trump’s golf courses in New Jersey.
The couple welcomed their first child earlier this year. Alfonso has said he wants to help create a better future for his young daughter, Rosita.
His win nonetheless sparked controversy, as some Republicans questioned whether his family’s political connections helped him overtake more experienced contenders.
Those concerns did not stop Alfonso from winning the Republican nomination in August or prevailing in November in the heavily Republican district.
The result offered Republicans a bright spot in Wisconsin, where Democrats defeated GOP incumbents Derrick Van Orden in the 3rd Congressional District and Bryan Steil in the 1st, flipping both seats.
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