A top ICE official resigned her job on Thursday in hopes of ousting the in Congress, Democrat Marcy Kaptur, this fall.
In a for Ohio鈥檚 9th Congressional District, former ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said she had stopped more illegal immigration in her less than a year on the job than Kaptur had in her 43 years in Washington.
鈥淚n Washington, hypocrisy, excuses and failure can earn you a lifetime job,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut on my family farm, that would have put us out of business.鈥�
The 28-year-old native of tiny Curtice, Ohio, near the shores of Lake Erie, labeled herself 鈥渁 Trump conservative.鈥�
Sheahan posted her resignation letter on the social media platform X. In it, she thanked President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for their 鈥渟teadfast commitment鈥� to the agency and expressed pride in what ICE has accomplished.
In a statement Thursday, the Kaptur campaign said, 鈥淰oters are tired of the self-dealing corruption and culture of lawlessness they鈥檝e 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.鈥�
The 79-year-old incumbent is accustomed to steep challenges in a Lake Erie-hugging district centered on Toledo, which has been drawn and redrawn to increasingly favor the state鈥檚 ruling Republicans. A bipartisan map resulted in boundaries that give Republicans a nearly 11-point advantage over Democrats for her seat, up from a roughly 9.5-point advantage in 2024.
In that year, Kaptur by such a close margin that The Associated Press did not until official results were entered, more than two weeks after the election. The final result was 48.3% to 47.6%.
The Kaptur campaign鈥檚 statement hinted at the possibility of another 鈥渕essy primary鈥� 鈥� like 鈥� shaping up among Republicans seeking the chance to take her on in November.
Sheahan is the seventh Republican to announce a bid for the GOP nomination, a field that also includes Merrin. Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, considered a potentially top contender to defeat Kaptur, was removed as a contender last week when he was named Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy鈥檚 .
David Gedert, a Toledo-area entrepreneur who The Blade of Toledo has reported is better known on stage as drag queen Sugar Vermonte, is running as a Libertarian.