Pro-Trump ICE official quits to launch Ohio congressional bid

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Jan 16, 2026

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A top Immigration Customs Enforcement official has stepped down from her post to launch a pro-Trump Republican campaign for a swingy Ohio congressional district in the midterm elections.

In what could turn into a referendum on President Donald Trump’s aggressive mass deportation push, ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan says she enter a crowded GOP primary fight to take on veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the Toledo-based OH-09 district.

“I’ve stopped more illegal immigration than Marcy Kaptur has in her 43 years in Washington,” Sheahan declared in a launch video. “Ohio neighborhoods are safer thanks to President Trump and ICE.”

That message could be controversial. Polls say voters, especially crucial moderates and independents, are not happy with the immigration crackdown that has led to clashes on the streets of cities like Minneapolis, where an ICE agent killed unarmed motorist Renee Nicole Good.

The fight for OH-09 is considered one of the marquee matchups of the midterms with control of Congress on the line. Trump won the district in 2024 by about 7% but Republicans tweaked it to make it even redder in the nationwide mid-decade gerrymandering right.

Republicans hold a narrow five-vote majority in the House, meaning Democrats need to flip only a handful of seats and hold onto districts they already represent, to retake control of the chamber.

Sheahan, 28, is from Ohio and was an aide to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when she was governor of South Dakota. She enters an already crowded GOP field including former state Rep. Derek Merrin, who narrowly lost to Kaptur in 2024, state Rep. Josh Williams and Alea Nadeem, an Air Force veteran.

Kaptur, 79, a familiar figure in northwest Ohio, has represented the Toledo district since 1983 and is seeking a 23rd straight term in Washington. She has repeatedly fended off Republican challenges as the state and region has trended to the right.