WASHINGTON — Rep. Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat, has had a decades-long personal bond with steel industry lobbyist Eileen Bradner — a relationship close enough that Kaptur once granted her power of attorney — while her campaign also received donations from Bradner and her firm’s political action committee during Kaptur’s long tenure in Congress, according to records, photos and information from the congresswoman’s office.
Federal campaign records show Kaptur’s main campaign committee accepted nearly $40,000 over the years from Bradner and the PAC tied to her lobbying firm. Separately, property filings in Alexandria, Virginia, indicate Bradner was briefly named as Kaptur’s attorney-in-fact in August 2010 during a refinancing of the congresswoman’s condominium.
“It is extremely bizarre for a Member of Congress to give power of attorney to a major DC lobbyist,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of 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.”
Posts shared on social media suggest Bradner’s connection to Kaptur extended well beyond Washington business circles. Before leaving the lobbying world, Bradner displayed photos of the congresswoman in her office, appeared at political events and marked personal family milestones connected to the longtime Ohio lawmaker.
Kaptur, 80, is seeking a 23rd term in the U.S. House of Representatives, campaigning to continue representing Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.
Her reelection fight is expected to be closely watched: the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as one of only five Democratic-held House seats currently considered a “toss-up.”
Kaptur spokesman Ben Kamens said the relationship with Bradner is rooted in a family friendship that began long before Kaptur entered Congress. “Congresswoman Kaptur’s long family friendship with Ms. Bradner and her now deceased parents goes back to their youth and family attendance at Little Flower Catholic Parish in Toledo, Ohio, where the Congresswoman still attends church weekly,” he said.
“Their acquaintance and friendship long predate the Congresswoman’s service in the House, and Ms. Bradner and her daughter still visit Northwest Ohio often,” he added.
“Ms. Bradner is an attorney,” Kamens noted. “In 2010 when the Congresswoman was refinancing the interest rate on her Washington area apartment, she was caring for a family member in Ohio and could not return to complete documents in person and the Credit Union she uses suggested she have a POA sign the documents.
“In this common arrangement, a designated agent receives legal authority to sign all loan and closing documents on behalf of buyer or seller who can’t be present. Standing in as POA Power of Attorney (POA) does not grant that person any legal benefits, ownership rights, or equity in the property, nor does it confer any liability for the financial transaction. To suggest anything otherwise wouldn’t comport with the truth, and would be deceitful,” Kamens said.
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.
The Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004 was meant to protect steel workers’ pension plans. Lobbying disclosures the same year show Bradner opposed giving the “pension contribution bailout to a few steel companies.”
House rules bar lawmakers from accepting campaign contributions in exchange for official actions.
“Marcy Kaptur is a champion for US steelmaking and long-standing member of the Bipartisan Congressional Steel Caucus,” said Kamens.
“Ms. Kaptur has celebrated the steelmaking successes of Northstar BlueScope Steel, Arcelor Mittal, US Steel, Cleveland Cliffs, and Republic Steel as resident industries in the District she represents.”
“Nucor, meanwhile, is the largest steel producer in the United States and makes the vast majority of its steel domestically and Ms. Bradner’s work or positions with Nucor before her retirement don’t make her political support for Ms. Kaptur anything untoward,” Kamens added.
“In fact, it is even more likely that support draws from Ms. Bradner’s affinity for Northwest Ohio where they were both born and raised, and Ms. Kaptur’s work as the Representative for the region.”
