Actress Melissa Gilbert to run for Congress in Michigan

Gilbert said that she is running as a Democrat to unseat freshman Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Mich.), in that state’s 8th district. The 51-year-old former star of Little House on the Prairie announced her bid as a Democrat on a new website, and her focus will be on issues related to women, children, and families.

“Mother, grandmother, wife and advocate”.

“I am operating for Congress to make life just a little simpler for all of the households who really feel they’ve fallen via the cracks in in the present day’s financial system”, Gilbert stated in a press release.

Gilbert, a working mom who lives in Livingston County with her husband Timothy Busfield, says she believes that supporting working families everywhere means building an economy that works for everyone.

She and Busfield have now moved from Howell, 45 miles north west of Detroit, to another area of Livingston County. She served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, which represents hundreds of thousands of individuals, between 2001-2005. The Detroit News has reported that the IRS filed a lien for more than $360,000 in unpaid income taxes. “Her values are out of whack with the district”, he said.

NBC News reached out to Gilbert for comment but the campaign said she was unavailable.

Gilbert, who has never held public office, campaigned for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer in 2014.

The Michigan Republican Party, pointing to the tax dispute, questioned whether voters should trust Gilbert on the economy. With Bishop – a concealed weapons holder – as the incumbent, and the gun-grabbing Gilbert in the race, it’s going to be a test of both sides of the Second Amendment debate.