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EXCLUSIVE — Michael Alfonso, the grandson of Cuban refugees who fled communism and who helped pay his way through college by working construction and paving roads, on Wednesday launched a GOP bid for Congress for an open seat in a solidly Republican House district in northern Wisconsin.
“I’m running for Congress because Northern Wisconsin needs to continue to have a representative who will truly put our families, communities, and America first,” Alfonso said in a statement shared first with Fox News Digital.
Alfonso, who his campaign describes as a “pro-Trump conservative,” is the son-in-law of Sean Duffy, who serves as transportation secretary in President Donald Trump’s administration. And he’s running for the congressional seat that Duffy held for a decade. It’s the same seat currently filled by incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who launched a 2026 campaign for governor last month.
“I was born and raised with the traditional Wisconsin values of faith, community, and hard work — and now I’m ready to give back to the area that gave so much to me,” the 25-year-old Alfonso said.
Republican Michael Alfonso is running for the open GOP-held U.S. House seat in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. (Alfonso congressional campaign)
He lamented that he’s “watched as the American Dream has continued to slip away from the people who so deserve it.”
And in an accompanying campaign launch video, Alfonso said, “Our district needs to bring in high-paying jobs, so people can plant their roots, raise their families here, and build a future they’re proud of.”
“Because when young people can’t get ahead, they start listening to the lies of socialism,” he added, under pictures of longtime Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro and Cuban Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara that cut back and forth with pictures of progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, along with democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in this year’s race for New York City mayor.
“My grandparents’ decision to flee communist Cuba to ensure a better life for our family should not be in vain. The radical left wants to change this country to be what my grandfather, and many before and after him, fled their home countries to escape,” Alfonso argues in his video. “We cannot let that happen, and I will fight every day to ensure Wisconsin, and this nation, continue to provide us with the freedoms and opportunities that my grandparents came here for.”
Sean Duffy, US secretary of transportation, speaks during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Alfonso also pledged that if elected, “I’ll work with President Trump to reform government, keep us safe, and bring down the cost of energy, food and housing.”
The House district, which includes most of northwestern and north central Wisconsin, is solidly red. Trump 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 instead of bidding for re-election in the 2026 elections. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Alfonso joins a GOP primary field that includes conservative businessman and attorney Paul Wassgren and public relations professional Jessi Ebben.
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Business owner Chris Armstrong and former state Rep. Fred Clark have launched campaigns for the Democratic congressional nomination in the district.
