Chelsea Manning announced that she’s running for U.S. Senate in Maryland, and here’s her first campaign video

Let’s face it: After the trainwreck that was 2017, we’re all a bit exhausted when it comes to politics. Between the GOP’s tax reform bill and heated debates over the repeal of net neutrality, Americans have spent months asking our government to actually represent our needs instead of engaging in petty Twitter feuds with other world leaders.

Perhaps it could pass a replacement for DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program) to protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation. Or maybe it could fund CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Anyway, if there’s one benefit to the current state of U.S. politics, it’s that more women than ever are running for office this year. That includes Chelsea Manning, a political activist and transgender woman who was convicted of espionage in 2010 for leaking classified military documents about the Iraq War to Wikileaks. She came out as transgender immediately after being sentenced to 35 years in prison, a term that was commuted in 2017.

The 30-year-old Manning has filed to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland. She’ll be challenging sitting Sen. Benjamin Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As Maryland’s senior senator, Cardin is considered a favorite in the race, but Manning’s national name recognition could make her a serious contender in the 2018 midterm election. 

Here’s Chelsea Manning’s first campaign video:

yup, we're running for senate 😎🌈💕 #WeGotThis https://t.co/ynFv6w32np

— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) January 14, 2018

"Chelsea Manning has fought for freedom and sacrificed for it in ways that few others have," Evan Greer, campaign director of the nonprofit organization Fight for the Future, wrote in an email to The Washington Post. "The world is a better place with her as a free woman, and this latest news makes it clear she is only beginning to make her mark on it."

We’re stoked to see Chelsea Manning join the countless women running for office — and we’re not the only ones.

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Women all over the country have been resisting since Trump’s election in 2016. We showed up in record-breaking numbers at the Women’s March on Washington. We’ve texted our elected officials in droves, thanks to Resistbot.

However, it’s clear that 2017 was just the beginning. The 2014 midterm elections made history for women in politics, and we’re pretty freaking excited to see that tradition continue in 2018.