Marcy Kaptur has only sponsored only five bills that became law over 40 years
Longtime Democratic congresswoman Marcy Kaptur collects a $174,000 annual taxpayer-funded salary while representing a district where the median household income is $65,077, but she has sponsored only five bills that became law over 40 years, according to a news analysis.
The midterm election is less than 100 days away, and Republican challenger Derek Merrin is hoping to oust the 22-term Democratic congresswoman from Northwest Ohio in November. It sets up a repeat of the 2024 general election, where Kaptur narrowly defeated Merrin.
Since 1983, Kaptur has taken home more than $6.2 million in taxpayer-funded salaries, and the salary for congressional representatives has risen from $69,800 to $174,000. Kaptur voted to increase pay for House members in 2007.
In addition, the U.S. national debt has increased by approximately $37.6 trillion since 1983, with Kaptur supporting millions of federal tax dollars for a myriad of taxpayer-funded handouts, including rural broadband initiatives.
According to Fox News, when asked on a recent podcast what her “super power” is, she responded: “Getting things done.”
Yet when it comes to her actual job performance, Kaptur admitted to her own failures, as Ohio.News previously reported.
“I just wish to say also that for 30 years I’ve been working to do this and have failed and failed and failed and failed…” Kaptur said when speaking on her efforts to bolster domestic agriculture production and displace foreign imports.
But her failures go beyond a lack of results for the region’s farmers. Kaptur has “failed and failed and failed and failed” Northwest Ohio on a much larger scale over her years in office, said Zach Bannon, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Over Kaptur’s more than 40-year career as a member of Congress, the five bills she sponsored that became law were signed in 1985, 1987, 2003, 2008 and 2022. However, critics of the measure have previously noted that many measures that become law are incorporated into other bills.
Among the five bills, one renamed a courthouse in Toledo, one directed the Treasury Department to mint and issue silver coins to commemorate the National World War II Memorial, and one was a resolution to encourage Americans to buy more U.S. savings bonds.
For context, a freshman member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, who was sworn into Congress in January 2025, has had six bills signed into law as a sponsor.
“A concrete parachute is more useful than Democrat Marcy Kaptur in Congress,” Bannon said. “Kaptur has continually failed hardworking northwest Ohioans while raking in millions over the years in her taxpayer-funded salary; Ohioans are ready for change and will send Kaptur packing from D.C. this fall.”
Kaptur won a hotly contested reelection in 2024 in what Politico called “one of the most closely contested House races.”
Flipping Kaptur’s district red would help Ohio stay reliably Republican and bolster Republican seats in Congress to support President Donald Trump’s agenda for the remainder of his term.
Merrin beat out four other candidates in the OH-09 Republican primary, including state Rep. Josh Williams, former ICE deputy director Madison Sheahan, Air Force veteran Alea Nadeem and data scientist Anthony Campbell, to set up November’s rematch against Kaptur.
“Northwest Ohio is ready for fresh new leadership,” Merrin said in a statement following his primary win in May. “After decades in Washington, she’s part of the problem—not the solution. Our campaign offers a clear alternative: new leadership, a focus on lowering costs, supporting law and order, and putting Northwest Ohio first.”
