Ohio GOP sweats as ex-Trump ICE officer advances toward primary: 'A slap in the face'

The Ohio GOP is worried that an ex-Trump official's baggage will cost them a chance to take a House seat if she wins the primary.

“She left in the middle of a scandal," said Ohio state Rep. Josh Williams about his fellow Republican Madison Sheahan to the Columbus Dispatch. Williams is running against Sheahan to unseat Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, and he was talking about Sheahan's time as a deputy director at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to a new report by Politico, Williams isn't alone. Other Republicans in the race are worried that if Sheahan wins the primary, Ohio voters will be turned off by her role in Trump's large-scale immigration enforcement operations in cities like Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“Republicans have this terrible impression" of ICE, said Alea Nadeem, another of Sheahan's primary opponents, during a debate in April. "As I’m out there knocking on doors, ICE does come up a lot, and it’s really divided the country, even some Republicans."

Sheahan left ICE in January to launch her Congressional campaign, and during the weeks when federal immigration officers shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, according to Politico.

“Primary issues that help you win are a two-edge sword. They can help you in the primary, but they might pose challenges in the fall election,” Ohio GOP strategist Terry Casey told Politico. “There’s obviously [a] debate of what happened in Minnesota and some other things.”

Sheahan's campaign spokesperson, Robert Paduchik, provided a statement to Politico saying, “Attacking her record of executing President Trump’s top priority to defend the homeland is a slap in the face to Ohioans who demanded closed borders and deportations.”