Cara Mund, a former Miss America who gained attention by criticizing the organization near the end of her reign in 2018, plans to run for Congress in North Dakota as an independent.
Mund announced her candidacy Saturday and said she would start gathering the 1,000 signatures she needs to get on the ballot, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
If Mund gathers enough signatures, in November she will face Republican U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who is seeking a second term, and Democrat Mark Haugen of Bismarck, a University of Mary graduate adviser who has long worked as a paramedic.
“I am so proud to be a North Dakotan,” Mund said in a statement. “It would be an honor and a privilege to represent the people of our state in Congress. I am ready to get to work and look forward to putting North Dakotans first.”
Mund said in 2018 that she had been bullied and silenced by leaders within the Miss America organization. The head of the organization's board later resigned.
Mund has said that her time as Miss America inspired her to be involved in public service. She graduated from Harvard Law School earlier this year.
