WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) — Actress Melissa Gilbert announced the end of her run for a Michigan congressional seat, citing health problems.
A statement Tuesday from Gilbert, famous for her role as Laura Ingalls Wilder on the television program ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ mentioned head and neck injuries sustained in two accidents during 2012.
“As much as it breaks my heart to say this, my doctors have told me I am physically unable to continue my run for Congress,” Gilbert said in the statement.
Gilbert, 52, announced her intention in August 2015 to run as a Democrat to challenge Rep. Mike Bishop, a first-term Republican, in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District in the southern part of the state.
Chris Thomas, state elections director, said Gilbert’s name would remain on the ballot for the Aug. 2 primary, and likely would be the only Democrat running. Democratic officials said that, under state law, she could vacate the ballot with a replacement chosen as a nominee for the November election, because she left the race due to illness.
Gilbert, a former Screen Actors Guild president, moved to Michigan with her husband, actor Timothy Busfield, several years ago; Busfield is now on the faculty of Michigan State University in East Lansing. Gilbert’s announcement that she would seek political office last year was followed by revelations she owed more than $470,000 in federal and state tax liens, which she later said were being repaid.
