--- 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: 2026-02-22T10:03:35.863Z 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Little House on the Prairie_ Actress Running for Congress 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":"2026-02-22T10:03:35.863Z","description":"Melissa Gilbert will run as a Democrat in Michigan","url":"https://time.com/3991654/little-house-congress/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","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"}}]}] ```