Sean Duffy’s son-in-law Michael Alfonso, 26, claimed in March that he works as an accountant for his Hayward Catholic parish, when questioned whether he has a job, but at a Clark County candidate forum on June 22, he said he “used” to be an accountant.
That raises an important question: Does Alfonso, who is running for Congress in the 7th congressional district, even have a current job? What happened to the parish job he unveiled in March? In addition, Alfonso doesn’t have a state accountant’s license, records show, and he’s still not on the public staff list for the Catholic parish in Hayward, where he said he worked in March, apparently part-time.
We’d ask him, but his campaign told us months ago that they’d never answer any of our questions.
“Some people have asked what I do for a living,” Alfonso wrote on social media in March. “I have the privilege of working as an accountant for my local parish, St. Joseph’s in Hayward. In many ways, it is perfect preparation for Congress – balancing budgets while being reminded every day that I ultimately answer to no one but Jesus Christ!”
But on June 22 he said he “used” to be an accountant. “I used to be an accountant. I know quite a bit about financial statements,” Alfonso said at the Clark County GOP candidate forum (candidates were given the questions in advance), video shows.
Watch the video here:
We have an email out to the parish communications director asking whether Alfonso still works there to determine whether this was merely a slip of the tongue.
When Alfonso first announced his campaign for Tom Tiffany’s old congressional seat, ads funded in part by $1 million through his father-in-law’s old campaign committee, painted him as a working class fighter. He’s said he worked in construction. He skipped four debates/forums before showing up at the Clark County event, where candidates were given questions in advance. His campaign has been funded in part by transportation lobbyist money, which is the industry his father-in-law helps regulate.
Alfonso’s campaign website claims he once worked “10-hour days building houses, paving roads, and laying concrete,” and as a podcast producer, but it’s silent on any current job. He recently touted a visit to Washington D.C. on a weekday to attend the opening of the Great American State Fair with Duffy, who is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
There are three other candidates running as Republicans in the race – businessman Kevin Hermening, Ashley Furniture official Jessi Ebben, and dog musher Niina Baum. The primary is in August.
In the March social media post, Alfonso suddenly unveiled that he worked as the accountant for St. Joseph’s, a local Catholic parish in Hayward. A woman at the church stated to WRN at that time that Alfonso was working there part-time. The church has refused to release additional details, such as whether this part-time parish job is paid and how many hours Alfonso works at it.
It’s unclear how Alfonso was and is able to afford to raise a family on a part-time parish salary or on no job – if it was paid at all. Alfonso is living in Duffy’s Hayward house, per Alfonso’s voting registration. He spent months campaigning without ever mentioning the parish job at all until WRN started asking whether he was even currently employed.
The number of years Alfonso worked as a construction worker has varied during the campaign, and, at 26, he also obtained a math degree from Madison, dealt with COVID restrictions, and spent about a year or a bit more in Florida as a podcast producer – so it’s unclear how much time he had to work construction. His wife has claimed on a podcast that he worked construction for seven years.
As of June 27, Alfonso still is not listed on the church website staff list, which lists another man as a bookkeeper, Ben Quicksell (how many accountants does one tiny Hayward parish need?) We wrote Quicksell and asked him what Alfonso’s duties are versus his and will add his response if one is received.
The state licensing lookup database turns up no results under his name for certified public accountants.
To be clear, casual bookkeepers, as opposed to paid certified public accountants, don’t need Wisconsin licenses.
Certified public accountants need state licenses. State law defines a certified public account as a person who “holds himself or herself out to the public in any manner as one skilled in the knowledge, science, and practice of accounting, and as qualified and ready to render professional service therein as a certified public accountant for compensation.”
State law does not require a certificate or license under this chapter for any of the following:
(1) Persons employed by a certified public accountant or firm licensed under this chapter to serve as accountants in various capacities, as needed, if all of the following conditions are met:
(a) The employees serving as accountants work under the control and supervision of certified public accountants.
(b) The employees serving as accountants do not issue any statements or reports over their own names except office reports to their employer that are customary.
(c) The employees serving as accountants are not in any manner held out to the public as certified public accountants.
(2) A practicing attorney, who, in connection with his or her professional work renders any accounting service.
(3) A person employed by more than one person for the purpose of keeping books, making trial balances, or statements, and preparing reports, if all of the following requirements are met:
(a) The reports described in this subsection are not used or issued by the employers as having been prepared by a certified public accountant.
(b) The persons employed as described in this subsection do not do any of the things enumerated in s. 442.02 (1m) (f) except as authorized under s. 442.02 (5m).(4)
