Marcy Kaptur Gave Steel Lobbyist Power of Attorney While Raking in Cash from Lobbyist’s PAC
Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur “maintained a lifelong friendship with a steel lobbyist — even giving her power of attorney — while also accepting campaign donations from the lobbyist and her firm’s PAC over two decades in Congress.”
“Out of touch Democrat Marcy Kaptur is a failed career politician who is more focused on pleasing her lobbyist friend who funnels cash to her campaign bank account than hardworking Ohioans. Kaptur will be held accountable and retired this fall.” – NRCC Spokesman Zach Bannon
Read more from the New York Post here or see excerpts below:
Ohio Dem maintained cozy relationship with steel lobbyist, once gave her power of attorney
New York Post
Josh Christenson
August 27, 2026
An Ohio Democrat maintained a lifelong friendship with a steel lobbyist — even giving her power of attorney — while also accepting campaign donations from the lobbyist and her firm’s PAC over two decades in Congress, according to photos, records and the congresswoman’s office.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur‘s principal campaign committee took nearly $40,000 from the lobbyist, Eileen Bradner, and her firm’s PAC — and records filed in the city of Alexandria, Va., also showed that Bradner was briefly listed as Kaptur’s attorney-in-fact when she was refinancing her condo in August 2010.
“It is extremely bizarre for a Member of Congress to give power of attorney to a major DC lobbyist,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director for Americans for Public Trust.
“Marcy Kaptur has been outspoken about ethics and transparency, yet she engaged in a relationship that gave the appearance of a potential conflict of interest. This raises serious questions about whether this woman lobbied Kaptur’s office or received any other special access or benefit while acting as an agent for the congresswoman.”
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Bradner served as a lobbyist for Wiley Rein LLP from 1998 to 2009 and from there, as senior director of federal government affairs at Nucor Corporation before retiring in 2023. She donated $2,150 directly to Kaptur’s campaigns between 2004 and 2018.
Nucor Corporation’s Political Action Committee also contributed $38,400 between October 2008 and March 2026 to Kaptur’s campaign. Bradner was Nucor’s top lobbyist from August 2009 to August 2023, according to her LinkedIn account.
At the same time, Kaptur frequently voted in favor of legislation for which Bradner was lobbying, including the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee and Emergency Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loan Act of 1999, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and, most recently, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.
More than 30 votes or co-sponsorships of legislation coincided with Bradner’s lobbying position over a roughly two-decade period, according to a Post review of disclosures and House votes.
The Ohio congresswoman in at least one instance also voted against a bill, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, that was opposed by Bradner.
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