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Chelsea Manning has filed to run for US Senate

Chelsea Manning has filed to run for US Senate

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Manning will run in Maryland as a Democrat

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Chelsea Manning, the former US Army private who was convicted of leaking documents to Wikileaks, has filed paperwork to run for the US Senate in 2018.

According to the filing, Manning will run as a Democrat in Maryland. The Washington Post reports that Manning did not respond to a request for comment, but says that she will be challenging the state’s senior senator, Democrat Ben Cardin, who is up for reelection this year. In addition to Manning, Jerry Segal, Richard Vaughn, and Debbie Wilson have announced their intention to run for the seat. Maryland will hold its Democratic primary election on June 26th.

Manning was released from prison in May after President Barack Obama commuted her sentence last year. She was sentenced to more than 35 years in prison in 2013 for her role in the leak, and began a rigorous debate over the way in which the US was conducting its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Sunday, Manning released a campaign ad, positioning herself as a leader who will challenge the political status quo.

Updated January 14th, 2018, 2:00PM ET: Updated to include Manning’s announcement campaign ad.