Madison Sheahan, a congressional candidate in Ohio, has been accused by an alleged former partner of engaging in a secret relationship marked by control, jealousy and verbal outbursts, according to the Daily Mail.
The woman, who spoke anonymously, alleged that the relationship began in 2020 when she was 19 and in college. Sheahan was 23, working as a senior Ohio Republican Party official on Donald Trump's campaign payroll. She claimed the relationship lasted roughly two years and was kept entirely secret.
The woman claimed she had moved into Sheahan's home after losing her student accommodation at Denison University. She summed up her former partner in three words: 'Toxic, volatile, controlling.'
Sheahan is now running for Congress in Ohio's 9th Congressional District ahead of a 5 May Republican primary. She resigned as deputy director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January. Her campaign adviser Bob Pudachik flatly denied the account.
'As the Ohio campaign manager, I can speak with authority that no such relationship existed,' Pudachik told the Daily Mail. 'Madison was not and has never been in a relationship with a subordinate.'
Allegations Of Control And Verbal Outbursts
The woman told the Daily Mail that Sheahan's behaviour worsened when they were apart. In late November 2020, the younger woman was stationed in Atlanta while Sheahan worked with senior campaign staff in Buckhead, Georgia, about an hour away. When the woman sent Sheahan a photograph of herself in black jeans and a fitted bodysuit before a night out, things turned ugly fast.
Sheahan went from wishing her a good evening to screaming over the phone, the woman claimed. A colleague working near Sheahan at the time told the Daily Mail the outburst could be heard through the walls. Sheahan had the call on speaker.
When the woman returned and rang Sheahan back, she was accused of cheating. The jealousy, the woman clarified, was not about the women she was with. It was about the men who might be there. When she told Sheahan it was her first same-sex relationship, Sheahan reportedly said: 'This is why I don't like to date people who aren't gay,' the Daily Beast reported.
The woman claimed Sheahan also told her how to dress, objected to her smoking and tried to stop her from moving to Washington in late 2021. At no point could they show affection to each other in public or at work events, she said. The alleged relationship ended over the phone in 2022 after a final row.
'She's Not Comfortable in Her Own Skin,' Ex-Partner Says of Sheahan
The woman said she believed Sheahan's behaviour was rooted in a refusal to accept her own sexuality. 'I think a lot of the problems with our relationship was that she's not comfortable in her own skin,' she told the Daily Mail. 'It's okay to be gay... but I don't think that's something she has accepted.'
Throughout the relationship, Sheahan insisted on total secrecy, the woman said. That dynamic carried a structural imbalance. In November 2020, Sheahan briefly served as the woman's direct supervisor on the Trump campaign, a detail confirmed by three sources speaking to the Daily Mail. The arrangement placed a 23-year-old senior party operative in a position of authority over a 19-year-old college student already living in her home.
The woman's account was corroborated in part by two additional sources who spoke to the outlet. One was the colleague who heard the phone outburst through the wall.
Sheahan, an Ohio State University graduate, previously served as political director for Kristi Noem and was appointed deputy director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March 2025, before stepping down in January. Raw Story noted the personal allegations add to a growing list of controversies shadowing Sheahan's campaign. She faces four Republican rivals in the primary and has not received an endorsement from the Trump White House.
Sheahan declined to comment. DHS and ICE did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Beast.
