Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s son-in-law has raked in tens of thousands of dollars from campaign donors with no connection to the congressional seat he’s running to fill, but who have business interests pending before Duffy’s department.
Michael Alfonso, 26, is the Republican candidate for Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district after receiving President Donald Trump’s endorsement and benefiting from Duffy’s Cabinet role during a bruising primary contest.
Duffy, 54, represented the same Republican-leaning rural district before leaving Congress in 2019 to work for Fox News. His eldest daughter, Evita Duffy-Alfonso, 26, is married to Alfonso and gave birth to the couple’s first child, Rosita, in May.
Despite never having held office or worked in the transportation industry, Alfonso has received generous donations over the past year from business leaders, corporate PACs, and lobbyists whose interests are tied to the Department of Transportation, according to an investigation by The Bulwark.
The donors include Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, which are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration; shipping companies such as UPS and DHL, which are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; and the trade groups connected to the Federal Highway Administration, including the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and National Asphalt Pavement Association.
Out-of-state business leaders and lobbyists have also opened up their wallets for Alfonso’s campaign, with at least 25 individuals who have lobbied the DOT during Duffy’s tenure giving a combined $41,750.
The campaign has raised $1.35 million since launching, The Bulwark found. Duffy’s own dormant congressional campaign committee also funneled another $1.5 million to Alfonso’s campaign through a pro-Alfonso super PAC.
Joshua Dominic, the California-based co-founder and CEO of a new passenger-rail startup that wants to launch an overnight luxury sleeper train from Los Angeles to San Francisco, donated $7,000. The Federal Railroad Administration will regulate his business once it opens for business.
Other donors received favorable outcomes after donating to Alfonso’s campaign, according to The Bulwark.
A firm led by New York executive Peter Cipriano was one of three finalists to be the master developer of a multibillion-dollar renovation of Penn Station when Cipriano donated $2,602.54 to Alfonso’s campaign in March.
Less than two months later, Duffy announced that Cipriano’s venture had been selected as the master developer, The Bulwark reported.
And the corporate PAC of Boston-based Air Space Intelligence, an air traffic software startup, donated $2,500 to Alfonso’s campaign before being awarded an $875 million contract with the FAA.
Alfonso’s campaign, Dominic, Cipriano, and Air Space Intelligence did not respond to The Bulwark’s requests for comment.
The Daily Beast has also approached the DOT for comment.
Alfonso appears on Duffy’s latest reality TV show The Great American Road Trip, a six-part YouTube series that aired last month.
The show follows Duffy, a former Real World star, and his wife, Fox & Friends weekend co-host Rachel Campos Duffy, as they drive cross-country with several of their nine children.
The show was funded by millions of dollars in corporate sponsorships from companies that Duffy’s department regulates, including Boeing, Toyota, United Airlines, Shell, Royal Caribbean, Enterprise, and Lyft, raising questions about possible ethics violations.
