Chelsea Manning, the transgender former Army probated who was convicted of passing classified government documents to WikiLeaks, has just filed to run for Senate in Maryland.
She would be running against Democrat Benjamin L. Cardin, who is currently in his second term in the Senate and who is considered widely popular and a high-demand desire for another term in office.
OMG CHELSEA MANNING IS RUNNING FOR US SENATE!?! statement of candidacy is listed on the FEC site so this is for real!!! https://t.co/AToVTW84Db@xychelsea we are SO DOWN, what can we do to make it happen?? 😍🌈💕 #WeGotThis 😎🌈💕 pic.twitter.com/k97egczyrq
— Millennials 4 Rev 🌹 (@Bernlennials) January 13, 2018
As of right now, Manning has declined to make a statement about her filing but she might speak out within the next few days.
She was found guilty of leaking over 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks back in 2013 and sentenced to prison for 35 years, but President Obama commuted Manning’s sentence to time served and released her from prison in Kansas during the last year he was in office.
Once released from prison, Manning moved to Maryland where she has lived since. Her felony convictions do not appear to ban her from running for Senate. The Democratic primary is scheduled for the end of June.
“Chelsea Manning has fought for freedom and sacrificed for it in ways that few others have,” Even Greer, campaign director of the nonprofit organization Fight for the Future and a close supporter of Manning’s while she was imprisoned, wrote in an email. “The world is a better place with her as a free woman, and this latest news makes it clear she is only beginning to make her mark on it.”
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