Sheahan launched her campaign challenging Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) on Thursday with a video announcement touting her service as an ICE official and work on her family’s horse farm.
Ohio’s 9th District, which stretches across the northwestern corner of the Buckeye State and includes the city of Toledo, has re-elected Kaptur every two years since her first run for the House in 1982, even as the state has shifted right over the past decade.
The race is currently listed as “lean Republican” in 2026 by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
A National Republican Congressional Committee rep confirmed Sheahan’s run to The Post. The announcement of her departure from ICE was made Thursday morning, sources first told Fox News.
“In less than one year at ICE, I’ve stopped more illegal immigration than Marcy Kaptur has in her 43 years in Washington,” Sheahan declared in her announcement video.
“In Congress, hypocrisy, excuses and failure can earn you a lifetime job,” she added. “But on my family farm, that would put us out of business.”
In the 2024 election, Kaptur triumphed over GOP candidate Derek Merrin by just 2,382 votes — while the district went for Donald Trump in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
Before serving in the Trump administration, Sheahan served as political director for four years under then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who was confirmed as Homeland Security secretary last year.
The ICE official was also executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party from 2023 to 2024.
Sheahan’s campaign website promotes her background as “a senior government executive and national leader in public administration, law enforcement, and political operations.”
The video announcement also cites Sheahan’s help in hiring 12,000 more ICE agents who helped deport “2.5 million illegal aliens.”
“In this role, she led one of the nation’s largest federal law enforcement agencies, overseeing strategy and execution in support of border security, interior enforcement, and the rule of law,” the Republican candidate’s website stated.
“In this role, she led one of the nation’s largest federal law enforcement agencies, overseeing strategy and execution in support of border security, interior enforcement, and the rule of law,” the Republican candidate’s website stated.
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