Actress Melissa Gilbert to run for congress

Actress Melissa Gilbert, known for her role as Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House on the Prairie, announced on Monday that she is running for congress. The show premiered in 1974 and ran until 1983, but the actress hasn't stopped her career there.

Gilbert is interested in a seat within Michigan's 8th congressional district. The Democratic candidate will be going up against Republican representative Mike Bishop.

She is not kidding.

The actress took it to social media to gain support. "Please join me in my fight for working families," Gilbert tweeted Monday.

The 51-year-old seems prepared. She has her own official campaign website on which she wrote a personal statement.

"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," Gilbert wrote. "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."

Stu Sandler, the campaign spokesman for Bishop, claimed that the actress owes a huge amount of money to the IRS. He said she owes approximately $300,000 in taxes.

"Melissa Gilbert can afford to have a stylist and a Louis Vuitton collar for her dog, but cannot pay her taxes," Sandler said in a statement to CNN. "Her Hollywood values are out of whack with the district."

This is Gilbert's first public office campaign. "I know people are doing their best to make a good life for themselves and their families," she added in her statement. "When it comes down to it, I think that’s what we all really want."

image courtesy of Tina Kaawaloa/INFevents.com