Chelsea Manning files for Senate run in Maryland

Whistleblower and transgender activist Chelsea Manning has filed to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland, The Washington Post reports.

Election filings show that Manning, 30, submitted her candidacy to the Federal Election Commission on Thursday as a Democrat. 

Manning will run against Sen. Ben Cardin (D), Maryland’s senior senator, for the party nomination in November. Cardin is expected to win the race to serve a third term. {mosads}

Manning was convicted in 2013 of releasing confidential military and State Department documents, but her 35-year sentence was commuted by then-President Obama to seven years, starting at the beginning of her confinement in 2010.

In his statement, Obama said that Manning’s sentence was “disproportionate” to those faced by other whistleblowers.

Manning has been active in advocating for LGBT and other causes since being released earlier this year. In July, she protested Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from the armed forces at a rally at the White House.