Actress Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame playing Laura Ingalls Wilder on “Little House on the Prairie,” announced Monday she is running for Congress.
Gilbert, a Democrat, is looking to unseat freshman Republican Rep. Mike Bishop of Michigan’s 8th congressional district.
“Please join me in my fight for working families,” Gilbert tweeted Monday.
“I’m running for Congress to make life a little easier for all the families who feel they have fallen through the cracks in today’s economy. I believe building a new economy is a team effort, and we need to bring fresh voices to the table to get the job done,” Gilbert writes on her campaign website.
Bishop succeeded Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who had retired at the end of his term. Bishop defeated his Democratic opponent with 54% of the vote.
Bishop’s campaign spokesman Stu Sandler was quick to point out that Gilbert owes more than $300,000 in back taxes to the IRS.
“Melissa Gilbert can afford to have a stylist and a Louis Vuitton collar for her dog, but cannot pay her taxes. Her Hollywood values are out of whack with the district,” Sandler said in a statement to CNN.