Chelsea Manning Files to Run for U.S. Senate in Maryland
Chelsea Manning, the transgender former Army analyst and whistleblower who spent seven years in prison after leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, filed paperwork to run for U.S. Senate in her “home state” of Maryland, according to the Federal Elections Commission.
Manning would vie for the nomination and seat currently occupied by Democratic senator Ben Cardin, a two-term senator who is up for a third term in November. Manning faces an uphill challenge in the June primary as the heavily favored Cardin defeated his Republican opponent by 30 points in the Democratic-leaning state, Reuters reports.
When asked about the filing, Manning told the Washington Post, “Our only statement on the record is, ‘No statement.'” Manning has not commented on her potential Senate run on social media, where she has previously been critical of ICE, police brutality and the Trump administration.
Manning was initially sentenced to 35 years at Kansas’ Leavenworth prison for her role in leaking over 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks; shortly after the sentencing, Manning came out as transgender. However, in one of Barack Obama’s final acts in office, the former president commuted her sentence, enabling Manning’s release in May 2017.
A documentary about Manning, titled XY Chelsea, will air later this year on Showtime.