Companies and lobbyists with business before Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have poured cash into his son-in-law's congressional campaign.
In a Thursday article, The Bulwark reported that Michael Alfonso, a Republican running for Congress in Wisconsin, has collected donations from transportation executives, corporate PACs, and lobbyists who have sought or won favorable decisions from Duffy's Department of Transportation.
Alfonso is married to Duffy's daughter, Evita, and at 26 years old, he would become the youngest member of Congress if elected, The Bulwark noted.
Alfonso has never held office, has no committee assignment, and does not mention transportation on his campaign website, yet he has raised more than $1.35 million since launching his bid, according to The Bulwark. Less than five percent of that came from small donors giving under $200.
Among the big donors to Alfonso's campaign is David Parker, chairman and CEO of the trucking company Covenant Logistics. Parker and his wife contributed a combined $10,000 to Alfonso's campaign, The Bulwark reported. Weeks after that donation, Duffy's department renewed a Covenant exemption from a federal driver-supervision requirement for another five years. Parker praised the department and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on an August earnings call.
"I see a lot of great things that are happening within DOT and FMCSA and everything that they are doing there that is just going to continue to allow this industry to get back to returns that we all want to be at," Parker said, per The Bulwark.
The Bulwark identified similar sequences involving a liquefied natural gas exporter with a port application pending before the department, a rail-and-construction executive whose venture Duffy personally tapped to redevelop New York's Penn Station, and an air-traffic software startup that landed an $875 million Federal Aviation Administration contract months after its PAC donated to Alfonso.
At least 25 people who lobbied the DOT during Duffy's tenure have donated to his son-in-law's campaign, according to The Bulwark.
Duffy has also steered money to the race directly. His dormant campaign committee transferred $1.5 million to a super PAC backing Alfonso, more than the candidate's entire campaign has raised on its own.
Alfonso has dismissed the idea that he is beholden to his benefactors, The Bulwark reported. He told the Associated Press that he answers only to God and the voters, according to The Bulwark.