Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deputy director Madison Sheahan has stepped down from her post to mount a conservative challenge against longtime Democratic Rep.
Marcy Kaptur in Ohios 9th Congressional District.
The 28-year-old Republican, who brands herself a Trump conservative, released a campaign announcement video on X Thursday morning declaring that she is running to protect American jobs, American paychecks, and American values. As reported by WND, Sheahan is targeting a GOP-leaning district along Lake Erie that Kaptur, 79, has represented for 43 years, making the Democrat the longest-serving female member of Congress in U.S. history.
Sheahan submitted a resignation letter dated Thursday to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, formally ending her tenure as ICEs deputy director in order to pursue elected office. President [Donald] Trump deserves a Congress that stands firmly behind his agenda to make America safer, more affordable, and more prosperous. For that reason, effective immediately. I respectfully submit this letter of resignation so that I may continue serving my country in a different capacity, she wrote.
In her launch video, Sheahan drew a sharp contrast between her brief but high-profile role in immigration enforcement and Kapturs decades in Washington. In less than one year at ICE, Ive stopped more illegal immigration than Marcy Kaptur has in her 43 years in Washington, Sheahan said, framing the race as a referendum on border security and the rule of law.
Kaptur has served in the House since 1983 14 years before Sheahan was born and has reliably aligned with House Democrats in opposing key elements of Trumps agenda. Sheahan accused the veteran lawmaker of putting party loyalty ahead of national security, charging that She [Kaptur] sided with her party, voting against the funding of the border wall while sending billions in taxpayer handouts to illegals. Free housing, healthcare, paid for by you.
Noem, who has emerged as a prominent conservative voice on border and security issues, offered an enthusiastic endorsement of her former subordinates bid. Ive known her for years, she loves her family, Ohio, and her country. She will be a great defender of freedom when she goes to Congress, Noem told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement.
Praising Sheahans record at ICE, Noem added, Madison Sheahan is a work horse, strong executor, and terrific leader who led the men and women of ICE to achieve the American peoples mandate to target, arrest, and deport criminal illegal aliens. We wish her all the best. The comments underscore how central immigration enforcement and support for Trumps policies will be in this contest, as Republicans seek to flip a seat that has been trending rightward.
Sheahans campaign highlights her experience within the Trump administrations DHS, where she says she oversaw the hiring of 12,000 new law enforcement officers within 180 days. According to her official biography, Sheahan oversees ICEs day-to-day operations, leading over 20,000 employees including over 6,800 criminal investigators in Homeland Security Investigations and 6,000 officers in Enforcement and Removal Operations, and as of publication the agencys website still listed her as deputy director.
The 9th District became more favorable to Republicans after Ohios mid-decade redistricting, which shifted its partisan balance several points to the right. The newly drawn seat on the November ballot would have backed Trump by 10.5 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, compared with the current configuration that he carried by just under seven points.
Despite the districts conservative tilt, Sheahan must first navigate a competitive Republican primary before she can take on Kaptur. The field includes former state Rep. Derek Merrin who narrowly lost to Kaptur in 2024 as well as state Rep. Josh Williams and Air National Guard officer Alea Nadeem, and Trump has not yet endorsed a candidate in the race.
Democrats, for their part, are attempting to portray the GOP contest as chaotic and self-serving, while casting Kaptur as a pragmatic dealmaker. While Republicans from near and far will fight through a messy primary in this district they gerrymandered again just this fall, Congresswoman Kaptur is focused on delivering real results for her constituents, a Kaptur campaign spokesperson told the DCNF in a statement.
The spokesperson insisted that Kaptur remains attuned to kitchen-table concerns, saying, Shes working to lower costs for working families, protect access to affordable health care, and bring transformative investments to Northwest Ohio. Voters are tired of the self-dealing corruption and culture of lawlessness theyve seen over the last year. They want a leader focused on affordability and real results, and Marcy Kaptur consistently works across the aisle to deliver both.
For conservatives, the contest offers a stark choice between a career Democrat who opposed Trumps border wall and a young enforcement official who boasts of cracking down on illegal immigration and expanding law enforcement ranks. With the district now leaning Republican and immigration ranking as a top concern for voters nationwide, Sheahans bid will test whether a Trump conservative message centered on sovereignty, security, and economic protection can finally unseat one of the Democratic Partys longest-serving incumbents.
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