Today, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that 26-year-old Michael Alfonso, Sean Duffy’s nepo baby son-in-law who is running for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, said he’d be open to raising the voting age to 21.
“From receiving nonstop corporate donations trying to influence his father-in-law and lying about seeing socialism, to now floating disenfranchising millions of young voters, Sean Duffy’s son-in-law keeps proving what an embarrassing candidate he is,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Danny Abbas. “When you have zero qualifications and want to talk about anything other than the economy, this is what you get.”
Read more from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Wisconsin congressional candidate Alfonso open to raising voting age
- Michael Alfonso, a Republican running for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, would be open to raising the voting age to 21, he said at a campaign event this week. At a town hall event on Sept. 21 in New Richmond, Alfonso addressed the voting age, according to an audio recording obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, saying that a decision should be made to allow voting, drinking and carrying firearms, all at the same age.
- “You’re allowed to vote at 18. You can drink at 21. And you can be on your mommy and daddy’s health insurance until you’re 26,” he said. “We haven’t picked an age where you’re an adult. I think the American people need to decide. There is an age where you are an adult, where you can vote, and you can do everything.” He said that the age could be 18, 21 or 27, but that once a person hits that age, “you are a full citizen of the United States, entitled to every single one of those rights.” “I would absolutely support constitutional carry for 18 and up,” he said. “But I’m also happy to move the voting age to 21, if that’s what we think is the best to do. And sometimes I don’t know if that’s such a horrible thing.”
- Alfonso is 26. The minimum age requirement to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives is 25. Maxwell Frost, a two-term Democrat of Florida, is currently the youngest member of Congress at 29. Alfonso has voted in Wisconsin elections since 2018, the year he turned 18. Americans have been able to vote at 18 since 1971, when the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, according to the Reagan Library archives. That amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to match the age of those who could be drafted to fight in the military, because people argued that if a citizen was old enough to serve, they should also have the right to vote at the same age. That push led to the popular slogan “old enough to fight, old enough to vote.”
- In a statement, Alfonso’s campaign said he simply meant to point out it didn’t make sense to have different ages for different rights. “In America, an 18-year-old can vote, sign a binding contract, serve on a jury, and enlist to fight for this country. That same young adult can’t legally buy beer, a pack of cigarettes, or a handgun until 21,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We tell them they’re old enough to choose our leaders and carry a rifle overseas, but not old enough to make other decisions about their own lives. Michael’s not here to insist the answer is 18 or 21. It just isn’t a coherent standard.”
Published: Sep 23, 2026