Sean Duffy

Sean Duffy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 8, 2011
Preceded by	Dave Obey
Ashland County District Attorney
In office August 1, 2002 – July 9, 2010
Governor	Scott McCallum Jim Doyle
Preceded by	Michael Gableman
Succeeded by	Kelly McKnight
Personal details
Born	Sean Patrick Duffy (1971-10-03) October 3, 1971 Hayward, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Rachel Campos-Duffy (married 1999; 6 children)
Residence	Weston, Wisconsin
Alma mater	St. Mary's University William Mitchell College of Law
Profession	Prosecutor
Religion	Roman Catholic[1]

Sean Patrick Duffy^[2] (born October 3, 1971) is an American politician, prosecutor, former sports commentator and reality television personality. He first entered public life as a cast member on The Real World: Boston and 2002's Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons, before going on to serve as district attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin^[3] and the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Sean Duffy was born in Hayward, Wisconsin,^[4] on October 3, 1971, the tenth of 11 children of Carol Ann (née Yackel) and Thomas Walter Duffy. He is of Irish, English, German, and Norwegian descent.^[5] Duffy has a marketing degree from St. Mary's University, and a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law.^[6]

Duffy started log rolling at age 5 and speed climbing (sprinting up 60 and 90 foot poles) at 13. He holds two speed-climbing titles.^[7]

Television career

Duffy has been an ESPN color commentator for televised competitions and in 2003 appeared as both a competitor and commentator on ESPN's Great Outdoor Games.^[6] He was named Badger State Games Honorary Athlete of the 2004 Winter Games.^[6]

In 1997, Duffy appeared on The Real World: Boston, the sixth season of the MTV reality television show, and on Road Rules: All Stars in 1998, where he met his future wife Rachel. Duffy later appeared on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons, which aired in 2002. Both appeared in a filmed segment on 2008's The Real World Awards Bash, while Duffy served as district attorney.^[8]

Political career

2002–2008

Duffy, a Republican,^[9] was appointed to the district attorney's post in 2002^[10] by then Governor Scott McCallum, and was elected unopposed in 2002,^[10] 2004,^[11] 2006^[12] and 2008. Upon assuming the office of district attorney, he succeeded Michael Gableman, a current justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Duffy was on the Republican slate of the 10 Wisconsin electors for the 2008 Presidential Election.^[13]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

On July 8, 2009, Duffy announced his campaign for Congress in Wisconsin's seventh congressional district. Duffy was considered an underdog in the race until May 2010 when 15-term incumbent Democrat Representative Dave Obey announced that he would not seek re-election.^[14] Following Obey's announcement, Democratic State Senator Julie Lassa joined the race.

On June 4, 2010, Duffy announced his resignation from the position of District Attorney of Ashland County to focus on the congressional race. The resignation was effective three weeks later and Duffy returned to work in his father's law practice.^[15]

He won the race on November 2, 2010, in a nationwide wave of Republicans being elected to Congress.^[16] Different sources attribute his victory to his ten month head start on Lassa's campaign, his grassroots organization and fundraising, his experience as a district attorney, and voter discontent with the economy.^[17]

2012

Duffy was challenged by Democratic nominee Pat Kreitlow.

Tenure

Duffy voted to eliminate Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements for federal projects.^[18][19][20] The first piece of legislation he sponsored was the RESET Act, which called for using unspent money in Obama's economic stimulus plan to pay down the debt. The idea was later incorporated into a spending bill. He also introduced a resolution to ban earmarks. One of his sponsored legislation, to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, passed the U.S. House but hasn't passed the U.S. Senate.^[20] The bill created a bipartisan commission made up of five members of Congress to replace the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director. The bill also gave the committee more room to get rid of polices that Duffy believes jeopardize the safety of the US banking system.^[21]

In March 2011, Duffy caused controversy when a video published by the Polk County Republicans, showing a public town hall-style meeting in his district, was removed after critics attacked the video. In the video, made in the wake of the passage of a controversial state bill which would have effectively frozen the salaries of state employees, Duffy was asked about whether he would be willing to cut his own $174,000 salary. Duffy responded that he would only be willing to do so as part of a general round of salary cuts for government employees, and insisted that he was "struggling" to get by, despite his salary being nearly three times the average for Wisconsin residents.^[22] The video has since been published in other locations.^{[23][24][25][26][27]}

On December 22, 2011, Duffy and fellow GOP House freshman Rick Crawford (Arkansas), published an open letter to Speaker Boehner, urging the leader to allow the House to vote on the Senate's 2-month tax cut extension compromise.^[28]

Committee assignments

Duffy serves on the Committee on Financial Services, in particular the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.^[29]

Electoral history

• 2012 Race for U.S. House of Representatives—7th District
  • Sean Duffy (R), 56%
  • Pat Kreitlow (D), 44%
• 2010 Race for U.S. House of Representatives—7th District
  • Sean Duffy (R), 52%
  • Julie Lassa (D), 44%
• 2008 Race for District Attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin
  • Sean Duffy (R) (inc.)
  • unopposed
• 2006 Race for District Attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin
  • Sean Duffy (R) (inc.)
  • unopposed
• 2004 Race for District Attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin
  • Sean Duffy (R) (inc.)
  • unopposed
• 2002 Race for District Attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin
  • Sean Duffy (R) (inc.)
  • unopposed

Personal life

Duffy is married to Rachel Campos-Duffy, an alumna of The Real World: San Francisco.^[30][31][32] They once lived in Ashland, Wisconsin.^[33][34] and moved to Weston, Wisconsin in late 2011.^[35] They have six children: Evita Pilar, Xavier Jack, Lucia-Belen, John-Paul, Paloma Pilar and MariaVictoria Margarita.^[36][37]

References

Further reading

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress

External links

• Congressman Sean Duffy official U.S. House website]
• Sean Duffy for Congress
• Sean Duffy on the Open Directory Project