A top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who was mocked internally as a “fisheries cop” for her previous work leading a fish and wildlife department announced Thursday that she would resign and challenge Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) in the 2026 midterm elections.

Madison Sheahan, a 28-year-old woman who was once Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s body woman, unveiled her candidacy for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District with a launch video heavily focused on her work as deputy director of the increasingly unpopular agency.

“In less than a year at ICE, I’ve stopped more illegal immigration than Marcy Kaptur did in her 43 years in Washington,” Sheahan boasts at the beginning of the video, which features plenty of footage of her wearing body armor while in the field and criticizes Kaptur for voting against the tax cuts and border wall funding included in the GOP’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill last summer.

Sheahan is not guaranteed a chance to challenge Kaptur, 79, who has stubbornly held on to his Toledo-based district even after a GOP-led gerrymander made him substantially more Republican in 2022 and 2024. (A new adjustment to Ohio’s congressional map earlier this year made it even more GOP-friendly.)

The 28-year-old will first have to win a Republican primary against former state Rep. Derek Merrin, who narrowly lost to Kaptur in 2024; Air National Guard Lt. Col. Alea Nadeem; and state Rep. Joe Williams, all of whom have raised at least $250,000 for their campaigns.

Madison Sheahan, a close ally of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has been the No. 2 official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement for most of President Donald Trump's second term.
Madison Sheahan, a close ally of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has been the No. 2 official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement for most of President Donald Trump’s second term.

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Kaptur has more than $1 million in his campaign account, according to Federal Election Commission records. In a statement, Kaptur’s campaign did not acknowledge Sheahan’s entry into the race but boasted of his own credentials.

“While Republicans near and far will fight through a tough primary in this gerrymandered district again this fall, Congresswoman Kaptur is focused on delivering real results for her constituents,” a spokesperson said. “Voters are tired of the self-serving corruption and culture of lawlessness they’ve seen over the last year. They want a leader focused on affordability and real results, and Marcy Kaptur constantly works across parties to achieve both.”

Sheahan’s launch video highlights a young woman who spent time working on her family’s farm in the district and doesn’t shy away from her time leading the Louisiana Department of Fish and Wildlife, with Sheahan saying she “modernized a broken department.”

But his time at ICE forms the core of the video, as Sheahan boasts of hiring 12,000 agents and deporting 2.5 million immigrants. “Ohio neighborhoods are safer thanks to President Donald Trump and ICE,” Sheahan says.

A New York Magazine profile of Noem also included an interview with Sheahan, who acknowledged there were doubts about her internally at the agency due to her age and lack of law enforcement experience. But he had no doubt he could do the job.

“I absolutely believe I’m qualified for the job,” Sheahan told the magazine. “Because at the end of the day, what really makes someone qualified for any job?”