Sean Duffy Explained

Sean Duffy
State:Wisconsin
Term Start:January 3, 2011
Term End:September 23, 2019
Predecessor:Dave Obey
Successor:Tom Tiffany
Office1:District Attorney of Ashland County
Term Start1:August 1, 2002
Term End1:July 9, 2010
Predecessor1:Michael Gableman
Successor1:Kelly McKnight
Birth Name:Sean Patrick Duffy
Birth Date:3 October 1971
Birth Place:Hayward, Wisconsin, U.S.
Party:Republican
Children:9
Education:Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (B.A.)
William Mitchell College of Law (J.D.)

Sean Patrick Duffy (born October 3, 1971) is an American politician, prosecutor, former sports commentator, and reality television personality who is currently a co-host of The Bottom Line on Fox Business, as well as a contributor on Fox News. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district from 2011 to 2019.

He first gained fame as a cast member on , 1998's and 2002's , before going on to serve as district attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin.

Early life

Duffy was born on October 3, 1971, in Hayward, Wisconsin,[1] [2] [3] the tenth of 11 children of Carol Ann (née Yackel) and Thomas Walter Duffy. He has a marketing degree from St. Mary's University, and a J.D. degree from William Mitchell College of Law.

Duffy started log rolling at age five and speed climbing (sprinting up 60- and 90-foot poles) at 13. He holds two speed-climbing titles.[4]

Television career

In 1997, Duffy appeared on , the sixth season of the MTV reality television show, and on in 1998, where he met his future wife Rachel Campos. Duffy later appeared on , which aired in 2002. Both appeared in a filmed segment on 2008's The Real World Awards Bash, while Duffy served as district attorney.[5]

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. He was named Badger State Games Honorary Athlete of the 2004 Winter Games.[6]

In December 2022 Duffy and Dagen McDowell were named co-hosts of The Bottom Line, a show on Fox Business which premiered on January 23, 2023.[7]

Political career

2002–2008

Duffy, a Republican,[8] was appointed Ashland County District Attorney in 2002[9] to succeed Michael Gableman by Governor Scott McCallum. He was reelected unopposed in 2002,[9] 2004,[10] 2006[11] and 2008.

Duffy was on the Republican slate of the 10 Wisconsin electors for the 2008 presidential election.[12]

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 Democratic representative Dave Obey announced that he would not seek re-election.[13] Following Obey's announcement, Democratic State Senator Julie Lassa joined the race.

On June 4, 2010, Duffy announced his resignation from the position of Ashland County District Attorney to focus on the congressional race. The resignation was effective three weeks later and Duffy returned to work in his father's law practice. He won the race on November 2, 2010, in a nationwide wave of Republicans being elected to Congress.[14]

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.[15]

2012

Duffy was challenged by Democratic nominee Pat Kreitlow, whom he defeated.

2014

Duffy was challenged by Democratic nominee Kelly Westlund. Duffy won.

Tenure

In 2011, Duffy voted to eliminate Davis–Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements for federal projects.[16] [17] [18]

In March 2011, Duffy attended a Polk County Republican public town hall-style meeting in his district. In the video, following the passage of a 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.[19] [20] [21] [22]

On December 22, 2011, Duffy and fellow Republican House freshman Rick Crawford (Arkansas), published an open letter to Speaker John Boehner, urging the leader to allow the House to vote on the Senate's two-month tax cut extension compromise.[23]

In 2013, Duffy and Democratic House member Michael Michaud (Maine) introduced a resolution calling for government action to ensure that people be provided with paper-based information along with electronic.[24]

Duffy was on the Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood.[25]

Duffy supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. He stated that "President Trump is fulfilling a campaign promise to re-evaluate our visa vetting process so that the American people are safe from terrorism."[26]

In January 2017, Duffy co-sponsored legislation that would end protection for grey wolves in the Endangered Species Act.[27]

In February 2017, Duffy gave an interview to CNN's Alisyn Camerota. He supported President Trump's immigration and travel ban, which focused on combating radical Islamist terrorists. When Camerota, referring to the Quebec City mosque shooting, asked why Trump made no public statement on the white terrorists who perpetrated that act, Duffy replied, "I don't know, there's a difference. You don't have a group like ISIS or al-Qaeda that is inspiring people around the world to take up arms and kill innocents...That was a one-off, Alisyn."[28]

In July 2018, Duffy said that Europe, China, Canada and Mexico had committed "economic terrorism in a way" by placing retaliatory tariffs on the United States in response to tariffs enacted by the Trump administration.[29]

Duffy resigned his seat effective September 23, 2019, to care for a newborn daughter with a heart defect.[30]

Legislation sponsored

Duffy proposed legislation[31] to replace the director of the consumer watchdog group, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), with a five-person commission and removing the CFPB from Federal Reserve System oversight so that it "would go through the same funding process as other federal agencies."[32] [33] The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would have been renamed the Financial Product Safety Commission. The bill also intended to make overturning the decisions about regulations that the new commission made easier to do. The bill gave the commission more room to get rid of policies that Duffy believes jeopardize the safety of the US banking system.[34]

In December 2015, Duffy introduced legislation[35] to establish a five-person financial oversight board over Puerto Rico (with members appointed by the White House) in exchange for allowing public entities in Puerto Rico access to Chapter 9 restructuring.[36] [37] [38] [39]

The American Conservative Union gave him a 78% evaluation in 2017 and Americans for Prosperity gave him an 88% evaluation in 2019.

Committee assignments

Duffy served on the House Committee on Financial Services. He was appointed Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in November 2014, taking over from Patrick McHenry.[40] He was also a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises. He also served on the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.

Electoral history

Personal life

Duffy is a practicing Roman Catholic.[43]

Duffy is married to Rachel Campos-Duffy, a fellow alumna of The Real World, and Fox News personality, whom he met when they were co-stars on .[44] [45] They lived in Ashland, Wisconsin, when Duffy was District Attorney for that county.[44] [46] [47] [48] They moved to Weston, a suburb of Wausau, Wisconsin, in late 2011, in order for Duffy to be closer to an airport for his weekly commute to Washington, D.C., where he spent three or four days a week.[49] [50]

As of August 2019, Duffy and his wife had eight children, and were expecting their ninth that October. On August 26, 2019, Duffy announced that because he and his wife learned that their ninth child would experience health complications, including a heart condition, he was resigning from Congress, effective September 23.[51] Their daughter, Valentina, was born on October 1, and was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome.[52]

Duffy's nephew, Erik Johnson, is an American ice hockey defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers.[53]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.legistorm.com/memberbio/2807/Rep_Sean_Duffy_WI.html "Rep. Sean Patrick Duffy"
  2. http://p.washingtontimes.com/campaign-2012/candidates/sean-patrick-duffy-60735/ "Wisconsin: Sean Patrick Duffy"
  3. http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=126238 "Sean Duffy's Biography"
  4. Web site: Lumberjack World Championships, Hayward. Classic Wisconsin. 2010-04-07. dead. https://archive.today/20120728231509/http://www.classicwisconsin.com/features/famval.html. July 28, 2012.
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20081029030110/http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/222473/dial-tone-fury.jhtml#id=1584947 "The Real World Awards Bash (Extended Version)"
  6. Web site: Hayward Lumberjack Champion Sean Duffy Named Honorary Athlete | Sports in Wisconsin . Badgerstategames.org . 2007-07-17 . 2010-04-07 . dead . https://archive.today/20091019024120/http://www.badgerstategames.org/hayward-lumberjack-champion-sean-duffy-named-honorary-athlete . 2009-10-19 .
  7. Web site: Fox Business Network Adds 'The Big Money Show,' 'The Bottom Line' To Weekday Schedule. Deadline Hollywood. Johnson, Ted. en-US. live. December 12, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213010356/https://deadline.com/2022/12/fox-business-network-sean-duffy-dagen-mcdowell-1235197391/.
  8. Web site: Real World: Washington – The Scorecard. Politico. 2010-04-07.
  9. Web site: Bloomer passes referendum on first try. Chippewa.com. 2003-02-19. 2010-04-07.
  10. http://elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=1429 "Wisconsin State Elections Board Results of Fall General Election – 11/02/2004"
  11. http://elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=10046&locid=47 "Wisconsin State Elections Board Results of Fall General Election – 11/07/2006"
  12. Web site: Marrero. Diana. Wisconsin slate of potential electors cut from all cloths. JSOnline. 2008-10-30. 2010-04-07.
  13. Web site: Sean Duffy running for congress. WAOW. 2009-07-08. 2010-04-07. May 12, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100512113916/http://www.waow.com/global/story.asp?s=10662657. dead.
  14. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-wi-wisconsinhouse-7t,0,2649529.story "Wisconsin's Duffy says he's ready to get to work"
  15. http://wsau.com/news/articles/2010/nov/04/strong-campaigan-voter-discontent-keys-duffy-victo/ "Strong campaign, voter discontent keys to Duffy victory"
  16. http://thatsmycongress.com/house/repDuffyWI7112.html "Republican Representative Sean Duffy of Wisconsin"
  17. http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Sean_Duffy_Jobs.htm "Sean Duffy on Jobs"
  18. Bivins, Larry (December 24, 2011). "Duffy ends 2011 with bill he promised at start" . The Marshfield News-Herald.
  19. Stewart, Rebecca. "'Real World' congressman's money troubles", CNN, March 30, 2011.
  20. Gilbert, Craig. "House freshman Duffy tells constituents "he's not living high on the hog" on congressional pay", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 29, 2011.
  21. Downie, James. "How to Prolong a Scandal, Wisconsin Edition", The New Republic, March 31, 2011.
  22. Bivins, Larry. "Dems mock Sean Duffy's $174,000 salary 'struggles'", Wausau Daily Herald, March 31, 2011.
  23. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70794.html "Payroll tax cut: Two GOP frosh bail, push for two-month bill"
  24. Rein, Lisa (February 16, 2013). "Group tries to slow federal government's move away from paper to the Web". The Washington Post.
  25. News: Boehner's next select committee, focusing on Planned Parenthood, to be led by Marsha Blackburn. Paul. Kane. October 23, 2015. The Washington Post. October 23, 2015.
  26. Web site: Blake. Aaron. Coffman, Gardner join Republicans against President Trump's travel ban; here's where the rest stand. The Denver Post. January 29, 2017. January 30, 2017.
  27. News: Republican-controlled government sees chance to weaken Endangered Species Act. Ars Technica. March 11, 2017.
  28. Web site: Scott. Eugene. February 8, 2017. Duffy: 'There's a difference' on white terror and Muslim terror. February 8, 2017. CNN.
  29. News: Dale, Daniel. Republican congressman accuses Canada of 'economic terrorism'. Toronto Star. July 25, 2018. July 31, 2018. en.
  30. News: Sean Duffy says he's leaving Congress in September. Beck. Molly. 26 August 2019. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. 26 August 2019. Gilbert. Craig.
  31. Web site: H.R. 3192 (113th): Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Accountability Act of 2013. September 26, 2013. April 19, 2016.
  32. News: Kasperowicz. Pete. House to take another swing at Dodd-Frank reform. February 11, 2014. The Hill. April 17, 2018.
  33. Web site: House Members Introduce Bills Targeting CFPB Practices and Oversight. September 30, 2013. Bank-Insurance Connection.com. American Bankers Association. April 19, 2016. August 16, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160816013945/http://bankinsuranceconnection.aba.com/2013_09_01_archive.html. dead.
  34. http://wsau.com/news/articles/2011/oct/31/congress-to-hear-impact-of-regulations-in-wausau/ "Congress to hear impact of regulations in Wausau"
  35. Web site: Duffy Bill Addresses Puerto Rico Debt Crisis; Shields Americans from a Taxpayer Bailout. December 9, 2015. April 19, 2016.
  36. Web site: Pierluisi Introduces Legislation Authorizing U.S. Treasury Department to Guarantee Future Puerto Rico Bonds. October 8, 2015. April 19, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160505041342/https://pierluisi.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pierluisi-introduces-legislation-authorizing-us-treasury-department-to. May 5, 2016.
  37. Web site: U.S. Senators Introduce Identical Companion Bill to H.R. 870, the Puerto Rico Chapter 9 Uniformity Act. July 15, 2015. April 19, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160417194403/http://pierluisi.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/us-senators-introduce-identical-companion-bill-to-hr-870-the-puerto-rico. April 17, 2016.
  38. Web site: Planas. Roque. December 9, 2015. Puerto Rican Officials Say Congress' Inaction Will Lead To 'Humanitarian Crisis' On The Island. April 19, 2016. HuffPost.
  39. News: House. Billy. Kaske. Michelle. April 13, 2016. Puerto Rico Bill Stalls in House Amid Objections by Both Parties. Bloomberg.com. April 19, 2016. Bloomberg L.P..
  40. Web site: Duffy tapped for leadership position in House. Hertel. Nora . November 20, 2014 . . April 28, 2016.
  41. News: Rep. Sean P. Duffy wins Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District seat . https://web.archive.org/web/20180815200940/https://www.washingtonpost.com/election-results/wisconsin-7th-congressional-district/ . dead . August 15, 2018 . The Washington Post . November 8, 2018.
  42. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/wi Decision 2016: Wisconsin Results
  43. News: Sean Duffy. WhoRunsGov/The Washington Post. November 16, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101114053006/http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Sean_P._Duffy. November 14, 2010.
  44. Web site: Sean Duffy's 'Real World' reprise. Hunt, Kasie. Politico. October 20, 2010. March 25, 2021. September 23, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160923012734/https://www.politico.com/story/2010/10/sean-duffys-real-world-reprise-043894.
  45. Campos-Duffy, Rachel. "I'm Expecting My 5th: What To Make Of The Trend In Bigger Families". Parent Dish, December 19, 2007.
  46. Web site: Meet Sean Duffy. Duffy, Sean. Duffy for Wisconsin. March 25, 2021. October 24, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201024093511/https://duffyforwisconsin.com/meet-sean-duffy/.
  47. http://www.latina.com/reality-couples-rachel-campos "Reality Couples: Rachel Campos"
  48. http://www.weddingvideomovie.com/castandcrew.htm#rachel "Cast and Crew"
  49. Web site: Olivo, Rick. October 19, 2011. Mr. Duffy moves to Weston. Sawyer County Record. December 4, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201204060000/https://www.apg-wi.com/sawyer_county_record/news/mr-duffy-moves-to-weston/article_ba3ab62b-b4b4-50dd-8e08-c091dcf5c316.html.
  50. Web site: Rachel Campos-Duffy balances motherhood with activism. Pabst, Georgia. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. May 11, 2013. December 4, 2020. August 26, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826125516/https://archive.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/rachel-camposduffy-balances-motherhood-with-activism-kk9t7d2-207073471.html/.
  51. Web site: Wisconsin GOP Rep. Sean Duffy says he's resigning over baby's health issues. NBC News. August 26, 2019. December 4, 2020. August 26, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190826204537/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/wisconsin-gop-rep-sean-duffy-resign-over-baby-s-health-n1046421.
  52. Web site: Sean Duffy and wife Rachel's 9th child born with Down syndrome . October 8, 2019 .
  53. Web site: Dater. Adrian. Around the Rink: No Doubt the NHL Is in a Golden Age of Young Talent. November 3, 2020. 2020-12-04. Bleacher Report. en. November 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161105124358/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2673836-around-the-rink-no-doubt-the-nhl-is-in-a-golden-age-of-young-talent.

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