Written by BET Staff

Angela Stanton-King, an author and former felon who President Trump pardoned last month, is running for a U.S. Congressional seat against civil rights leader and incumbent Rep. John Lewis. TMZ reports Stanton-King was at the Georgia Capitol Building on Friday morning (March 6) to register as a Republican candidate for the state’s 5th Congressional District. This is just three weeks (February 19) after Trump pardoned her for a 2007 six-month home confinement sentence due to her role in a stolen-vehicle ring. Stanton-King is entering the race with just eight months to go against an iconic civil rights leader who’s held that office since 1987. Lewis’ district includes most of metro Atlanta and is nearly 60 percent African American.

Thanks for your prayers 🙏🏽 it’s official. I’m running for U.S. Representative for the 5th District of Georgia. This isn’t about replacing John Lewis, this is about picking up the torch and continuing the fight for Justice. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/tsbTrUtVGN — Angela Stanton-King (@theangiestanton) March 6, 2020

“Thanks for your prayers it’s official,” Stanton wrote in a tweet that features images of her signing the official papers. “I’m running for U.S. Representative for the 5th District of Georgia. This isn’t about replacing John Lewis, this is about picking up the torch and continuing the fight for Justice.” Stanton-King also has made offensive social media posts, including this tweet about the LGBTQ community.



Shortly after she was pardoned, Stanton-King made incorrect statements about President Obama. She claimed the 44th President of the United States contributed to locking up Black people via his 2010 Fair Sentencing Act. However, the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act was widely praised by Democrats and Republicans because it reduced the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences and eliminated the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine. Stanon-King’s run has zero political experience. Her claim to fame is a 2012 book titled Life of a Real Housewife. She claimed that she and former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks and her former husband, Apollo Nida, were involved in various criminal enterprises, including forgery and a complicated “federal racketeering scheme” aimed at stealing luxury cars. Parks would later file a $30 million lawsuit against Stanton-King. The case was dismissed in 2016.



Stanton-King is also close to Alveda King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s niece, who is a Trump supporter and defends his racism. At least two of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s children have spoken out against the president.



Alveda King was also in Trump’s Cabinet Room on February 28 when former NFL player Jack Brewer said he was the “first Black president.”

TMZ spoke with Stanton-King on Friday and asked her why she was running for the seat. She says she wants to "continue to fight for justice for Black America, and also help people understand that our unborn babies deserve justice as well."

“Whenever I think about Rep. John Lewis, the image I have in my head is him on the Selma bridge. I have the utmost respect for the contributions that he has made to Black America,” Stanton-King told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, referring to the congressman’s role during the 1965 march on Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. “However, this isn’t the Selma bridge, and our babies are dying. It is time for war.” Stanton’s “war” is against a woman’s right to choose. One of her biggest campaign issues will reportedly be a cruisade against abortion providers and Roe v. Wade itself. It remains to be seen how genuine Angela Stanton-King’s motives are but her fate might be similar to Stacey Dash’s failed run for a congressional seat in a predominantly Black area in 2018.



Rep. John Lewis is currently fighting pancreatic cancer. He recently spoke at 55th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, where his skull was factured at only 25 years old, in Selma, Alabama.