On Monday, GOP Rep. Sean Duffy unexpectedly announced that he would resign from Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District effective Sept. 23. Duffy, who was first elected to the House in the 2010 GOP wave, cited his family in explaining his departure, saying in a statement, “Recently, we’ve learned that our baby, due in late October, will need even more love, time, and attention due to complications, including a heart condition.”
Duffy’s district, covering rural northwest Wisconsin, was competitive turf a decade ago, but it’s been moving sharply to the right ever since. Barack Obama actually carried the 7th (adjusting for redistricting) in 2008 by a 53-45 margin, but four years later, Mitt Romney won it 51-48. The bottom did not truly fall out until 2016, though, when Donald Trump prevailed by a giant 58-37 margin.
Things didn’t get much better for Democrats last year despite the blue wave: Republican Gov. Scott Walker carried the 7th 57-41 despite narrowly losing statewide, and even Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin lost it 52-48 while cruising to a 55-45 reelection victory.
Duffy got his first taste of public exposure years before he ran for Congress: In 1997, he was a cast member on the MTV reality TV series The Real World and later appeared on several of its spinoffs. From there, Duffy went on to become both an attorney and professional lumberjack. He entered politics in 2002 when he was appointed district attorney of Ashland County, and he soon won a special election to keep his job despite the county’s strong Democratic lean.
Two years later, Duffy began considering running against veteran Democratic Rep. Dave Obey, who’d been in office ever since winning a special election all the way back in 1969. Ultimately, Duffy declined to challenge Obey in 2004, instead biding his time for six more years.
However, when Duffy finally decided to take on Obey in 2010, the longtime incumbent chose to retire instead (possibly after getting back an unwelcome poll). Duffy made heavy use of his lumberjack background in his campaign against Democratic state Sen. Julie Lassa, including in a memorable ad where he stood high atop a piece of wood to demolish the top of a tree and declared that he’d “bring the ax to Washington.” The Tea Party wave of 2010 proved no less terrible for Democrats in Wisconsin than elsewhere, and Duffy handily defeated Lassa 52-44.
Shortly after taking office, Duffy very quickly made news for the first of many times during his House career when he complained at a town hall that his $174,000 congressional salary was too small. “With six kids, I still pay off my student loans,” he told his new constituents “I still pay my mortgage. I drive a used minivan. If you think I’m living high off the hog, I’ve got one paycheck.” (Duffy would go on to have two more children, with a ninth on the way.)
The incident, however, did little to hurt him at home, especially after Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map to strengthen Duffy and other Republican members. Duffy won his first reelection bid by a convincing 56-44 in 2012 year against former state Sen. Pat Kreitlow, out-performing the top of the ticket, and he never again faced a serious foe.
Like most congressional Republicans, Duffy went on to become a die-hard Donald Trump fanboy. In early 2017, the congressman ardently defended Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, dismissing white supremacist terror by saying, “You don’t have a group like ISIS or al-Qaida that’s inspiring people around the world to take up arms and kill innocents. That’s a one-off.” When CNN host Alisyn Camerota pressed him about the 2015 shooting at a black church in South Carolina, Duffy responded, “Look at the good things that came from it. [Then-Gov.] Nikki Haley took down the Confederate flag. That was great!”
Despite these comments, Duffy reportedly emerged the GOP’s top choice to challenge Sen. Tammy Balwin in 2018. Duffy himself seemed very interested early on: Toward the end of the 2016 elections, Duffy and Sen. Ron Johnson ran an unusual joint television ad in Duffy's northern Wisconsin seat even though the congressman wasn't in any danger, which looked like an attempt to give him some extra exposure ahead of a Senate bid. However, Duffy surprised observers in early 2017 when he announced that he wouldn’t run against Baldwin.
Duffy remained a Trump zealot during his last term in the House. Last month, he took to the floor to speak out against a Democratic resolution condemning Donald Trump for telling four congresswomen of color to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Duffy defended Trump by saying, “I see nothing that references anybody’s race. Not a thing! I don’t see anyone’s name referenced in the tweets.” He went on, “But the president is referring to people, congresswomen, who are anti-American! And lo and behold, everybody in this chamber knows who he’s talking about.” The resolution passed with the support of only four Republicans.
Duffy’s departure will necessitate a special election to fill his vacant seat. Given the trends in the 7th District, the GOP will be favored, but as Nathan Gonzales put it, it’s “another potential special election for Republicans to mess up.”
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