--- title: Little House on the Prairie Actress Melissa Gilbert Runs for Congress description: Melissa Gilbert will run as a Democrat in Michigan canonical: https://time.com/3991654/little-house-congress/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-10T21:29:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:08.848Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'Little House on the Prairie' Actress Running for Congress og:description: Melissa Gilbert will run as a Democrat in Michigan og:url: https://time.com/3991654/little-house-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte15a2a82157a236b/69885e9cf887dcdcf2e91cc5/melissa-gilbert.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Ultimate Women's Expo 2015 - Day 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Little House on the Prairie' Actress Running for Congress twitter:description: Melissa Gilbert will run as a Democrat in Michigan twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte15a2a82157a236b/69885e9cf887dcdcf2e91cc5/melissa-gilbert.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Little House on the Prairie_ Actress Running for Congress > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Aug 10, 2015 9:29 PM UTC  Actress Melissa Gilbert onstage at the Atlanta Ultimate Women's Expo at Georgia World Congress Center on May 3, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. Actress Melissa Gilbert onstage at the Atlanta Ultimate Women's Expo at Georgia World Congress Center on May 3, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. Paras Griffin—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Aug 10, 2015 9:29 PM UTC The actress who played Laura Ingalls Wilder on _Little House on the Prairie_ in the ’70s and ’80s is now [running for Congress](http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/10/actress-gilbert-run-congress-michigan/31425899/) in Michigan. Melissa Gilbert announced on Monday that she will run as a Democrat in the state’s eighth congressional district against Republican incumbent Mike Bishop. She wrote on her [campaign page](http://www.gilbertformichigan.com/), “Here in Michigan, I know people are doing their best to make a good life for themselves and their families. When it comes down to it, I think that’s what we all really want.” Gilbert, who has also appeared on _Dancing With the Stars_, has previously served as president of the Screen Actors Guild. The Detroit _News_ reports that she has recently run into tax trouble and owed the IRS $360,000; she explained her debt as “a product of what happened with the economy.” \[[_The Detroit News_](http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/10/actress-gilbert-run-congress-michigan/31425899/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3991654/little-house-congress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3991654/little-house-congress/"},"headline":"Little House on the Prairie Actress Running for Congress","datePublished":"2015-08-10T21:29:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:08.848Z","description":"Melissa Gilbert will run as a Democrat in Michigan","url":"https://time.com/3991654/little-house-congress/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","celebrities","Michigan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte15a2a82157a236b/69885e9cf887dcdcf2e91cc5/melissa-gilbert.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte15a2a82157a236b/69885e9cf887dcdcf2e91cc5/melissa-gilbert.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ultimate Women's Expo 2015 - Day 2","caption":"Ultimate Women's Expo 2015 - Day 2","creditText":"Paras Griffin—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3991654/little-house-congress/","name":"Little House on the Prairie Actress Running for Congress"}}]}] ```