Duffy, who was elected in 2010, said he will step down Sept. 23. Duffy and his wife — who starred on separate seasons of MTV’s “The Real World” and later met while filming another MTV reality show, “Road Rules” — have eight children.

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“With much prayer, I have decided that this is the right time for me to take a break from public service in order to be the support my wife, baby and family need right now,” he said. “It is not an easy decision — because I truly love being your Congressman — but it is the right decision for my family, which is my first love and responsibility.”

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in response to Duffy’s decision, praised the congressman as the “embodiment of a ‘happy-warrior conservative.’ ”

“His love for Wisconsin and our nation is evident in the work he has put in to make our country more prosperous and free. Judy and I will be praying for Sean, his wife @RcamposDuffy, and their growing family,” McCarthy said in a tweet.

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The decision by Duffy, 47, will at least temporarily pause the ascent of one of the Republican Party’s most telegenic and appealing personalities — one who has become a frequent presence on cable news programs.

Duffy grew up around the Wisconsin timber industry and competed in logrolling and other lumber-related sports before embarking on his reality television career. After earning a law degree and marrying Campos-Duffy, he returned to northern Wisconsin and won election as a county prosecutor.

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In 2009, he launched what appeared to be a long-shot challenge to veteran Democratic Rep. David R. Obey, then the Appropriations Committee chairman, and when Obey chose to retire rather than seek reelection, Duffy was well-positioned to take advantage — leaning heavily on his timber-country background in his campaign.

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“I’ll bring the ax to Washington,” he said in one TV ad showing him felling a tree and vowing to tackle the national debt.

Although he was part of the 2010 tea party wave, Duffy’s record in the House has been that of a mainstream conservative Republican. He won a seat on the House Financial Services Committee and sponsored numerous deregulatory bills benefiting the financial industry. He was also the lead author of the 2016 legislation that gave Puerto Rico a path out of its burgeoning debt crisis but also mandated a temporary federally appointed control board that had the power to override the locally elected territorial government.

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Duffy is the 13th Republican House member sworn in for the 116th Congress who will not return for the 117th. He joins two other young lawmakers — Reps. Will Hurd of Texas and Martha Roby of Alabama — who had been seen as future leaders of the GOP.

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Duffy’s resignation is likely to set up a special election in the rural 7th Congressional District. The date will be set by Gov. Tony Evers (D).

The district, encompassing Wisconsin’s vast Northwoods, is unlikely to show up high on Democratic target lists: Donald Trump won the district by 20 points in 2016, and while Obey and other Democrats held office for decades in this part of the Midwest, rural areas have been moving steadily away from the party. In the neighboring 8th District of Minnesota, for instance, Republicans easily picked up a seat last year in an otherwise tough cycle for the GOP after the retirement of longtime Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan.

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement that the district is “a Republican stronghold” where, he argued, the Democratic Party’s national agenda stands to be toxic.