Republicans quietly fear ex-ICE official could cost them a 'white whale' in Ohio: report

Republicans quietly fear that a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official running for office in Ohio could cost them a coveted congressional seat, according to a new report.

The Atlantic reported on Monday that Madison Sheahan, who is running against Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) in Ohio's 9th Congressional District, has drawn the ire of Republican strategists and some voters. Some described her as a "dilettante and a carpetbagger," even though she grew up on a local farm, according to the report. They also expressed concerns that Sheahan would cost them a chance to win a seat they have described as their "white whale."

“It is a seat we should win. It is a seat we need to win,” Matt Gorman, a former spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told The Atlantic. “This seat is too important to screw up.”

Chris Enoch, a self-described supporter of Josh Williams, a Republican state lawmaker who had entered the race before Sheahan, argued in what the Atlantic described as a "stinging" editorial that Sheahan's sudden departure from ICE, where she worked for just under a year, makes her a "suspicious" candidate.

"A community leader must be of, by, and for the community,” Enoch wrote. “They must know the community because they have lived it, worked in it, and put in the time to understand it fully."