Marcia Carolyn Kaptur (/ˈkæptər/ KAP-tər; born June 17, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Ohio’s 9th congressional district. Now elected into her 22nd term, she has been a member of Congress since 1983.

A member of the Democratic Party, Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in congressional history (having surpassed Barbara Mikulski in 2023)^[1] and the dean of Ohio’s congressional delegation.

Kaptur was born on June 17, 1946, in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of Anastasia Delores (Rogowski) and Stephen Jacob Kaptur.^[2][3] Her parents were both of Polish descent. Her mother was an automobile union organizer and her family operated a small grocery. Kaptur started volunteering with the Ohio Democratic Party when she was 13.^[4]

Kaptur graduated from St. Ursula Academy in 1964 and became the first person in her family to attend college.^[5][6] She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1968 and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan in 1974.^[7] She began doctoral studies in urban planning development finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981.^[8]

Kaptur served on the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions from 1969 to 1975. She was director of planning for the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs (1975–1977), founded by Geno Baroni. She later served as a domestic policy advisor during President Jimmy Carter‘s administration.^[9]

While at MIT, Kaptur was recruited to run for Congress in 1982 against freshman Republican Ed Weber, who had upset 26-year incumbent Lud Ashley two years earlier.^[10] Despite being outspent by almost 3–1, she defeated Weber 58–39%.^[11][12]

In 1984, Kaptur faced a strong challenge from Republican Frank Venner, longtime anchorman and weatherman at WTVG, but defeated him 55–44%,^[13] even as Ronald Reagan carried the district. From 1986 to 2002, she won every election with at least 74% of the vote.^[14] Since 2016 Kaptur has faced increasingly strong challengers with her winning 56.6% of the vote against challenger J.R. Majewski in 2022.^[14]

Kaptur won her 13th term with 74% of the vote.^[15]

Kaptur won her 14th term with 74% of the vote.^[16]

Shortly after achieving fame during the 2008 election, conservative figure Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher announced that he was considering challenging Kaptur in the 2010 election,^[17][18][19]
but chose not to run. Kaptur was instead challenged by Republican Rich Iott, a Tea Party movement favorite. She was reelected to a 15th term with 59% of the vote,^[20] her closest victory since 1984.

For her first three decades in Congress, Kaptur represented a compact district centered around Toledo. Redistricting after the 2010 census extended the 9th district to western Cleveland. The new map put the home of incumbent 10th district congressman Dennis Kucinich into the 9th, so they ran against each other in the Democratic primary. Graham Veysey, a small-business owner from Cleveland, also ran in the primary. Retaining over 60% of her former territory, Kaptur won the primary with 56% of the vote to Kucinich’s 40%.^[21][22] In the general election, she won a 16th term against Wurzelbacher and Libertarian Sean Stipe.^[23] The reconfigured 9th was no less Democratic than its predecessor, and Kaptur had effectively clinched reelection by defeating Kucinich in the primary.

Kaptur’s 2014 opponent was Richard May, a longtime Republican activist from west Cleveland, who beat Lakewood resident Robert C. Horrocks Jr. in the May 6 primary.^[24] Kaptur won 68–32%.

Kaptur’s 2016 opponent was Donald Larson, who defeated Steven Kraus and Joel Lieske in the Republican primary on March 15. Kaptur won 68–31%.

Kaptur’s 2020 opponent was Rob Weber, who defeated Charles W. Barrett, Tim Connors, and Timothy P. Corrigan in the Republican primary on March 17. Kaptur won 63–37%.

Kaptur was seemingly placed in a vulnerable position when redistricting shifted her district to the west in order to take in territory previously in the neighboring heavily Republican 5th district. While Joe Biden carried the old 9th with 59% of the vote, the new 9th would have voted for Donald Trump with 51% of the vote. Despite this, Kaptur easily defeated Republican nominee J.R. Majewski, 56.6% to 43.4%.^[25]

Kaptur won an extremely close race against Derek Merrin, who had been endorsed by Donald Trump.^[26] At 48.3% to Merrin’s 47.6%, this was the first race in which Kaptur did not receive a majority of the votes cast.

In 1996, Ross Perot asked Kaptur to be his vice-presidential running mate. She declined.^[27]

Kaptur voted with President Joe Biden’s stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.^[28]

Kaptur opposed the America Invents Act that passed into law and changed the U.S. Patent System. She opposed changing from a “first to invent system” to a “first to file system”, saying it hurt small businesses^[29] and “Our patent system is the finest in the world… the proposed solutions are special fixes that benefit these few giants at the expense of everyone else.”^[30]

Kaptur co-sponsored the Restoring America’s Leadership in Innovation Act. In order to strengthen inventors’ property rights, the bill would remove the administrative review process that allows the public to challenge patent filings’ validity; the process exists to prevent misuse of the patent system.^[31]

On December 10, 1987, Kaptur introduced the World War II Memorial Act in the House.^[32] The bill authorized the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a World War II memorial. It was not voted on before the end of the session and so failed to be enacted. Kaptur introduced similar legislation twice in 1989 but these bills also failed to become law.^[33]

Kaptur introduced legislation for the fourth time on January 27, 1993. This time the legislation was voted on and passed in the House on May 10, 1993. After a companion bill was passed in the United States Senate, President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on May 25, 1993.^[34]

Kaptur later said that she felt “a great sense of fulfillment” that the memorial was built. “This generation was the most unselfish America has ever seen,” she said. “They never asked anybody for anything in return.”^[35]

Kaptur holds a 95% rating from NARAL. She supported Roe v. Wade, calling it “the law of the land”. She has voted for some proposals to restrict access to abortion and opposed others. In January 2007, she was the only member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to vote against federally funded embryonic stem-cell research.^[36] Kaptur voted for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, an amendment to America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.^[37] She was one of only 16 Democrats to vote for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act on May 4, 2011.^[38] Kaptur also voted to ban partial-birth abortions in 2000 and 2003.^[39][40] She voted against the Child Custody Protection Act in 1999 and the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act in 2005.^[41][42] Kaptur voted against allowing privately funded abortions at overseas military hospitals twice in 1995, as well as in 1997, 1998 and 1999.^{[43][44][45][46][47]} In 2005, Kaptur voted to lift the ban on abortions at overseas military hospitals.^[48]

In 2023, Kaptur voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would have criminalized failing to provide care for an infant born alive after an abortion attempt.^[49]

Kaptur opposes free trade agreements. She helped lead opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement, permanent normal trade relations for the People’s Republic of China, and fast track authority for the president.^{[citation needed]}

Kaptur opposed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which provided a bailout for U.S. banks.^[50] Her opposition to the bailout was highlighted in Michael Moore‘s 2009 documentary Capitalism: A Love Story.^[51]

On April 12, 2011, Kaptur introduced H.R. 1489 to restore the Glass–Steagall Act, “To repeal certain provisions of the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act and revive the separation between commercial banking and the securities business, in the manner provided in the Banking Act of 1933, the so-called ‘Glass–Steagall Act’, and for other purposes.” There were 30 co-sponsors.^[52]

Kaptur was one of 38 Democrats to vote against the DREAM Act in December 2010. It passed the House but failed in the Senate.^[53]

In 2021, Kaptur voted for the DREAM Act.^[54]

On May 8, 2024, Kaptur voted against the “Equal Representation Act.” This proposed law would have required that when counting the population of each state to determine the number of U.S. Representatives, noncitizens who are ineligible to vote would be excluded from the count.^[55]

Kaptur endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, and introduced him at a rally in Toledo.^[56] On October 3, 2016, she endorsed the nominee, Hillary Clinton, who had won Ohio and her district in the primary, at a rally in Toledo.^{[citation needed]}

In 2022, Kaptur voted for H.R. 1808: Assault Weapons Ban of 2022.^[57][58] The legislation would ban semiautomatic rifles, including AR-15s, the most popular rifles in the U.S.^[59]

In 2023, Kaptur voted against H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.^[60][61]

Kaptur co-chairs the Ukrainian Caucus. She has been a vocal supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kaptur has said Ukraine “voted for her own independence and has been laboring to be free with continued Russian meddling in her country all these decades.”^[62] In February 2023, Kaptur signed a letter advocating for President Biden to give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.^[63]

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development (Ranking member)
  • Subcommittee on Defense

• Congressional Arts Caucus^[64]
• Congressional Ukrainian Caucus (co-chair)
• Congressional Caucus on Poland
• Congressional Caucus on Central and Eastern Europe^{[citation needed]}
• Congressional Caucus on Hungary^{[citation needed]}
• Congressional United Kingdom Caucus^[65]
• House Baltic Caucus^[66]
• Climate Solutions Caucus^[67]
• Blue Collar Caucus

*In 1984, all 3,714 votes for other candidates are considered write-in ballots. In 1988, 72 write-in ballots were cast. In 1992, 50 write-in ballots were cast. In 2014, write-in candidates Cory Hoffman and George A. Skalsky received 112 votes and 29 votes, respectively. In 2016, write-in candidate George A. Skalsky received 5 votes.

Kaptur is a Roman Catholic.^[74][75] In her letter to NETWORK Lobby, she wrote: “The Roman Catholic faith is a central pillar of my being, particularly as an American of Polish heritage”.^[75] She describes her Catholicism as an element of her Polish heritage, stating that the Catholic Church gave her “ancestors worth and hope—during times of bondage, repression, punishment, war, illness, and harrowing economic downturns”.^[75] Kaptur also expressed her admiration for Catholic social teaching, especially the option for the poor. In 2010, Kaptur withheld her vote on Affordable Care Act until being assured that it would not fund abortion.^[76] Because she mixes political Catholicism with her progressive persona, The Washington Post described her as “an economic populist from America’s heartland with progressive values and a conservative disposition”.^[76]

• Ohio’s 9th congressional district
• List of United States representatives from Ohio
• National World War II Memorial
• Women in the United States House of Representatives

• Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur official U.S. House website
• Marcy Kaptur for Congress

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN