Marcy Kaptur

Marcy Kaptur
Born	Marcia Carolyn Kaptur 17 6, 1946
Birthplace	Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician, U.S. Representative
Title	U.S. Representative for Ohio's 9th congressional district
Known for	Longest-serving woman in U.S. congressional history; legislation establishing the National World War II Memorial
Education	University of Michigan (MUP)
Awards	Dean of Ohio's congressional delegation (since 2009)

Marcia Carolyn Kaptur (born June 17, 1946), known as Marcy Kaptur, is an American politician who has served as the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 9th congressional district since January 3, 1983. A member of the Democratic Party, Kaptur holds the distinction of being the longest-serving woman in the history of the United States Congress, a record she has held for several years as she has continued to win re-election in northwestern Ohio. Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, to a working-class family with roots in the city's Polish-American community, Kaptur built her career on economic populism, labor advocacy, and the interests of manufacturing communities along the southern shore of Lake Erie. Before entering Congress, she worked as an urban planner and served as a domestic policy advisor in the Carter administration. In Congress, she has served on the House Appropriations Committee and the Budget Committee, and she introduced the legislation that established the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. She has served as the dean of Ohio's congressional delegation since 2009.

Early Life

Marcia Carolyn Kaptur was born on June 17, 1946, in Toledo, Ohio. She grew up in a working-class Polish-American family in Toledo, a city whose economy was built around the automobile industry, glass manufacturing, and other heavy industries along the western end of Lake Erie. Her mother was an active union member, a fact that shaped Kaptur's lifelong orientation toward organized labor and working-class economic concerns.

Toledo, situated at the mouth of the Maumee River on the southwestern shore of Lake Erie, was a city defined by its industrial base and its diverse immigrant communities. The Kaptur family's roots in this community gave the future congresswoman a firsthand understanding of the economic pressures faced by manufacturing workers and their families. These formative experiences in Toledo would later inform her opposition to free trade agreements and her advocacy for policies aimed at protecting domestic manufacturing jobs.

Kaptur has maintained her residence in Toledo throughout her career in Congress, a point she has emphasized as evidence of her continued connection to the district she represents. Her district, Ohio's 9th, stretches across northwestern Ohio along the southern shore of Lake Erie and includes parts of Toledo and surrounding communities.

Education

Kaptur earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She subsequently pursued graduate studies in urban planning, receiving a Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Michigan. She also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, though she did not complete a degree there.

Her academic background in history and urban planning provided the foundation for her pre-congressional career as an urban planner in Toledo and her later work in the Carter administration on domestic policy related to urban affairs. The combination of historical knowledge and practical planning expertise informed her approach to public policy, particularly regarding economic development, housing, and the revitalization of urban communities in the industrial Midwest.

Career

Pre-Congressional Career

Before her election to Congress, Kaptur worked as an urban planner in Toledo, applying her graduate training to the challenges of urban development and revitalization in a Midwestern industrial city. This work gave her direct experience with the economic and planning challenges facing cities like Toledo during a period of deindustrialization and urban change.

Kaptur's expertise in urban affairs led to her appointment as a domestic policy advisor in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, where she worked on urban affairs. Her service in the Carter White House provided her with experience in federal policymaking and an understanding of the relationship between federal policy and the economic well-being of communities like those in northwestern Ohio. This combination of local planning experience and national policy work positioned her for her eventual run for Congress.

Election to Congress

Kaptur was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, succeeding Republican Ed Weber as the representative for what was then Ohio's 9th congressional district. She took office on January 3, 1983. Her victory marked the beginning of what would become one of the longest tenures in the history of the House of Representatives.

Since her initial election, Kaptur has been re-elected consistently, representing the Toledo area and northwestern Ohio for over four decades. Over the course of her tenure, her district has been redrawn multiple times through redistricting processes, but she has maintained her seat through each cycle. As of 2025, she continued to represent Ohio's 9th congressional district, which stretches along the southern shore of Lake Erie.

Legislative Work and Committee Assignments

Kaptur has served on the House Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful committees in Congress, which controls federal spending. As of 2025, she held the position of Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, a role in which she has addressed issues related to energy policy and water infrastructure. She has also served on the Budget Committee.

One of Kaptur's most notable legislative achievements was introducing the legislation that led to the establishment of the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial, which honors the service and sacrifice of the approximately 16 million Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II, was a project Kaptur championed over many years before its completion and dedication in 2004. The effort reflected her personal connection to the World War II generation, including members of her own family who served during the conflict.

Economic Populism and Trade Policy

Kaptur has been characterized as an economic populist throughout her congressional career. She has consistently advocated for policies aimed at protecting American manufacturing jobs and supporting working-class communities, positions rooted in her upbringing in Toledo's industrial economy and her mother's involvement in organized labor.

A central element of Kaptur's economic populism has been her opposition to free trade agreements. She was a prominent opponent of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), arguing that such agreements would lead to the loss of American manufacturing jobs to countries with lower wages and fewer labor and environmental protections. She also opposed other free trade agreements during her tenure in Congress.

Kaptur voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Her opposition to trade agreements reflected a broader concern about the impact of globalization on communities like those in her district, where factories had closed and jobs had been lost to overseas competition.

During the 2008 financial crisis, Kaptur voted against the federal bailout of major banks, a position consistent with her economic populist stance. She argued that the bailout prioritized the interests of large financial institutions over those of ordinary working Americans who were losing their homes and jobs during the economic downturn.

Kaptur has sought to influence the Democratic Party's leadership and policy direction to focus more on working-class priorities, arguing that the party needed to maintain its connection to the economic concerns of industrial workers, union members, and families in communities like Toledo.

Key Votes

Throughout her long tenure, Kaptur's voting record reflects her economic populist orientation and her positions on major legislative issues. Congressional roll call records document her votes on significant legislation over the decades.

She voted on the Minimum Wage Increase Act and other legislation related to labor standards. She participated in votes on the Affordable Care Act and other major healthcare legislation.

Kaptur's record includes votes on trade legislation spanning from the 1990s through the 2000s, including votes related to trade relations with China. Her votes on trade-related measures in the 1990s further documented her consistent opposition to free trade frameworks.

She also cast votes on defense-related matters and on issues related to intellectual property and patent reform.

Manufacturing and Economic Advocacy

In December 2025, Kaptur joined with fellow Ohio Democratic congresswoman Shontel Brown to lead Ohio House Democrats in writing a letter to the Trump administration demanding answers regarding frozen manufacturing funds. The letter, addressed to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, sought information about why funds designated for manufacturing had been held up, reflecting Kaptur's ongoing focus on manufacturing policy and economic development in Ohio.

In September 2025, in her role as Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Kaptur delivered floor remarks on the 2026 Energy and Water Development Funding Bill, addressing issues related to energy infrastructure and water resource management.

Redistricting Challenges

Throughout her career, Kaptur has faced challenges from redistricting. In November 2025, she spoke publicly for the first time about the redrawing of her northwestern Ohio district in a way that she characterized as gerrymandering intended to further favor Republican candidates. She described the process as "just moving lines around," criticizing the redistricting as undermining fair representation.

The redistricting issue has presented Kaptur with an increasingly difficult electoral landscape. As one report noted, she faces "an uphill battle after Ohio approved new Congressional districts amid a nationwide redistricting fight."

2026 Election Cycle

In January 2026, former ICE deputy director Madison Sheahan announced her departure from the agency to enter the Republican primary race to challenge Kaptur in Ohio's 9th district. Sheahan, who had been the number two official at ICE, joined what was described as a crowded Republican primary field seeking to unseat the longtime incumbent.

In February 2026, Kaptur announced that she would host Bryan, Ohio, Mayor Carrie Schlade — described as the first female Eagle Scout in Northwest Ohio history — as her guest at the State of the Union address.

Notable Electoral History

Kaptur has faced challengers from both major parties throughout her career. In 2008, amid the presidential election campaign, Joe Wurzelbacher, known as "Joe the Plumber" after his exchange with presidential candidate Barack Obama, publicly considered a run for Congress against Kaptur.

Election results over the years documented Kaptur's consistent victories in both primary and general elections, though her margins have varied depending on the political environment and the composition of her district following redistricting.

Personal Life

Kaptur has remained a resident of Toledo, Ohio, throughout her congressional career. She is unmarried and has maintained deep ties to the Toledo community and its Polish-American heritage. Her connection to the working-class roots of her family, including her mother's involvement in organized labor, has been a defining element of both her personal identity and her political career.

Kaptur's decision to remain in Toledo rather than relocate to Washington, D.C., has been noted as reflecting her commitment to staying connected to the constituents she represents. Her district, which encompasses communities along the southern shore of Lake Erie in northwestern Ohio, includes the city where she was born and raised.

Recognition

Kaptur's most significant distinction is her status as the longest-serving woman in the history of the United States Congress, a record she achieved through her continuous service representing northwestern Ohio since 1983. She has served as the dean of Ohio's congressional delegation — its longest-serving member — since 2009.

Her legislative achievement in establishing the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., stands as one of the most prominent accomplishments of her career. The memorial, which she championed through the legislative process over many years, honors the millions of Americans who served during World War II and has become one of the most visited sites on the National Mall.

Kaptur's role on the House Appropriations Committee, and particularly her position as Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, has given her significant influence over federal spending decisions related to energy and water infrastructure.

Legacy

Kaptur's more than four decades of service in the U.S. House of Representatives have made her one of the most prominent figures in Ohio politics and in the broader history of women in American government. Her record as the longest-serving woman in congressional history represents a milestone in the participation of women in American political life.

Her consistent advocacy for working-class economic interests, opposition to free trade agreements, and skepticism of financial industry bailouts have defined a particular strand of economic populism within the Democratic Party. Kaptur's positions on trade and manufacturing predated the broader political realignment on these issues that occurred in both parties during the 2010s and 2020s, making her an early voice on concerns about the impact of globalization on American industrial communities.

The National World War II Memorial remains a tangible legacy of Kaptur's legislative work, serving as a permanent tribute to the World War II generation on the National Mall. The memorial's existence is a direct result of her legislative initiative and her persistence in seeing the project through to completion.

Her representation of Toledo and northwestern Ohio over more than four decades has made her closely identified with the region's economic challenges and aspirations, from the decline of manufacturing employment to efforts at economic revitalization. Kaptur's career illustrates the intersection of personal background, local identity, and national policy that characterizes long-serving members of Congress who maintain close ties to their home communities.