The ‘Fish Cop’ Who Became A Top ICE Official Is Running For Congress | EUROtoday

A high Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who was internally mocked as a “fish cop” for her previous work main a fish and wildlife division introduced Thursday she was resigning and would problem Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) within the 2026 midterm elections.

Madison Sheahan, a 28-year-old who was as soon as the physique lady of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, unveiled her bid for Ohio’s ninth Congressional District with a launch video closely centered on her work because the deputy director of the more and more unpopular company.

“In less than one year at ICE, I’ve stopped more illegal immigration than Marcy Kaptur has in her 43 years in Washington,” Sheahan boasts at first of the video, which options plentiful footage of her sporting bulletproof vests whereas out within the area and criticizes Kaptur for voting in opposition to the tax cuts and border wall funding included within the GOP’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill final summer time.

Sheahan just isn’t assured the possibility to problem the 79-year-old Kaptur, who has stubbornly held onto her Toledo-based district even after a GOP-led gerrymander made it considerably extra Republican in 2022 and 2024. (An additional tweak to Ohio’s congressional map earlier this yr made it much more GOP-friendly.)

The 28-year-old will first need to win a GOP main in opposition to each former state Rep. Derek Merrin, who narrowly misplaced to Kaptur in 2024; Air National Guard Lt. Col. Alea Nadeem; and state Rep. Joe Williams, all of whom have raised no less than $250,000 for his or her campaigns.

Kaptur has greater than $1 million in her marketing campaign account, in response to Federal Election Commission data. In an announcement, Kaptur’s marketing campaign didn’t acknowledge Sheahan’s entrance into the race however bragged about her personal credentials.

“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 spokesperson stated. “Voters are tired of the self-dealing 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 consistently works across the aisle to deliver both.”

Sheahan’s launch video highlights a youth spent engaged on her household’s farm within the district and doesn’t run away from her time main Louisiana’s Wildlife and Fisheries Department, with Sheahan saying she “modernized a broken department.”

But her time at ICE makes up the core of the video, as Sheahan brags about hiring 12,000 brokers 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 additionally included an interview with Sheahan, who acknowledged there have been doubts about her internally on the company due to her age and lack of regulation enforcement expertise. But she had little doubt she might get the job completed.

“I absolutely think I’m qualified for the job,” Sheahan instructed the journal. “Because at the end of the day, what really makes anybody qualified for any job?”