Former Miss America Runs For Congress. Believe It!

Erika Harold won Miss America in 2003, and since then, her life has taken a dramatic turn. She is officially running for Congress in the United States Government!

She officially issued the smackdown this week, aka, the congressional seat challenge to Republican Rodney Davis, that she wants to be the new Republican rep for Illinois.

Aside from holding the title of Miss America, she has also attended the University of Illinois and Harvard Law School. It seems her journey from the beauty pageant to the bar exam opened her eyes to what more she can offer her peers and community.

“I’ve learned that our lives are defined, not by the titles we earn, but rather by the service we render. And in each point in my life, Ive sought to serve,” she outlines in her video (below).

As an attorney she has defended religious liberties, fought against youth violence and bullying during her Miss America reign, and volunteered her time to engage in prison ministry. A shining example of what a serving citizen looks like, and a great inspirational model (pun intended!) for the rest of us who are looking for purpose or meaning other than serving ourselves.

Her official platform as Miss America was “Preventing Youth Violence and Bullying: Protect Yourself, Respect Yourself.” This platform choice was said to have grown out of personal experience; she recounts having been the subject of racial and sexual harassment while growing up. On her father’s side she is Greek, German and Welsh ancestry. On her mother’s side Native-American, African-American and Russian.

If she is elected as member of congress, the issues she will seek to fight for are fiscal responsibility for the government (a great cause!), and education in her district. Go Erika! We certainly hope she and more strong young passionate women around America and the world will want to take up seats in their respective governments to make a difference in the lives of their fellow countrymen.

We need more women in Government. After all, we can’t just leave it up to the men to advocate and fight for us, then complain they aren’t doing a good enough job. If you see a problem with your government and are passionate about an issue, get involved, and work to change it. That’s our challenge to everyone, instead of just complaining about politicians.