WASHINGTON — 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.”
Social media posts show that Bradner kept pictures of Kaptur in her office before retiring from lobbying, attended official political events and celebrated family moments.
Kaptur, 80, is running to serve a 23rd term in the House to represent Ohio’s Ninth Congressional District.
The seat is one of just five Democratic ones listed as a “toss-up” by the non-partisan Cook Political Report.
“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,” said Kaptur spokesman Ben Kamens.
“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.”
