MIAMI (AP) — Donna Shalala, the former Health and Human Services secretary and president of the University of Miami, is running as a Democrat for the congressional seat vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
According to Federal Election Commission paperwork filed Monday, the 77-year-old Shalala is running in a district that includes much of Miami Beach, downtown Miami and coastal Miami-Dade County.
Shalala, who has never run for elected office, has taught a political science class at the University of Miami since stepping down in April as president of the Clinton Foundation. She was president of the university for 14 years.
Fernand Amandi, a pollster and political consultant who has been advising Shalala, told the Miami Herald she plans to speak about her candidacy later this week.