Former Miss America launches bid for Illinois attorney general

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A former Miss America and Harvard Law School graduate said on Tuesday she would seek the Republican nomination in Illinois' attorney general race next year.

Erika Harold is running to unseat Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat who has been in office since 2003 and has indicated she plans to seek reelection.

Harold ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for Illinois' 13th Congressional District in 2014.

"Career politicians have made it a nightmare for too many families in our state," Harold said in a statement to announce her candidacy. "The people of Illinois deserve a state government that works for them, not the powerful."

She put herself through Harvard by entering the Miss America contest, which she won in 2003, according to the statement. Harold now works as a lawyer at the Meyer Capel firm in Champaign County.

The primary election for the state's attorney general race is in March 2018.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales and Dave McKinney; Editing by Colleen Jenkins)