Michael Alfonso has won the GOP nomination for the northern 7th CD.

The Associated Press called the race at 9:16 p.m., 76 minutes after polls closed. 

The 26-year-old former podcast producer triumphed over a slate of candidates with more political and career experience, boosted by an endorsement from President Donald Trump and millions in outside spending. He’s the son-in-law of Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who used to represent the district.

He will face former state Rep. Fred Clark, of Bayfield, in November. Clark won a three-way primary with IT business owner Chris Armstrong and family law attorney Ginger Murray.

In a statement, Alfonso said he was “humbled” to be the GOP nominee and pledged to make the district affordable and fight back against Democrats’ “radical policies,” which he’s compared to the communism his grandparents fled from in Cuba.

“I’m running to bring a new generation of young Republicans into our party and fight to preserve the American Dream,” he said.

He will be among the youngest members of Congress if elected in November.

Alfonso, of Hayward, presented himself throughout his campaign as a Trump loyalist and Christian conservative who could bolster the president’s ranks of younger allies in Washington, D.C.

He emerged victorious from a five-way primary against: financial adviser and longtime GOP party official Kevin Hermening; Ashley Furniture executive and former 3rd CD contender Jessi Ebben; digital media strategist and grassroots moderate Niina Baum; and accountant and repeat candidate Don Raihala, an accountant.

Alfonso’s opponents criticized his lack of career and political experience, including questioning his employment status and residency in the district, and attacked Alfonso as a “nepo baby” picked for the nomination by Duffy.

Alfonso benefitted from some $3.5 million in outside spending from Northwoods Future PAC, a committee funded in large part by $1.5 million in transfers from Duffy’s campaign coffers and $1 million from Illinois businessman Dick Uihlein.

That group was by-and-large the biggest spender in the race, trailed by the $1.6 million the Liz Uihlein-backed Northwoods PAC spent backing Ashley Furniture executive Jessi Ebben, of Stanley. 

Alfonso’s campaign also benefitted from extensive financial support from individuals and committees associated with the transportation lobby and other special interest groups.

The Boeing Company’s PAC last week donated the maximum $5,000 to Alfonso’s campaign, the latest in a series of transportation-related contributions that also included support from Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, UPS, and the parent company of Florida’s Brightline intercity rail service.