Ex-Congressman Sean Duffy takes job as CNN contributor

Patrick Marley
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A July 18, 2018, photo of Rep. Sean Duffy, (R-Wis)., asking a question of Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.

MADISON - Less than a month after leaving Congress to spend more time with his family, Sean Duffy has signed on as a paid contributor to CNN's "State of the Nation."

Duffy, a Republican from Wausau and vocal backer of President Donald Trump, stepped down last month because of concerns over the health of the baby he and his wife Rachel Campos-Duffy were about to have. Days after he resigned, their daughter Valentina was born with Down syndrome and holes in her heart. 

"State of the Nation" host Jake Tapper introduced Duffy as a paid contributor on Sunday, according to the Daily Beast

A special election to fill Duffy's seat will be held May 12, with the primary on Feb. 18. 

Running in the Republican primary are Tom Tiffany, a state senator from Minocqua; Jason Church, an aide to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson who was awarded a Purple Heart after he lost his legs in combat in Afghanistan; and Michael Opela, who describes himself as a former businessman living on a hobby farm in Edgar.

The Democrats in the race are Tricia Zunker, the president of the Wausau School Board, and Lawrence Dale, an insurance salesman who lives near the Wisconsin border in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. 

Whoever wins the special election will have to run again in the fall of 2020 if he or she wants to stay in office. 

 Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.