Compton Mayor Aja Brown announced Thursday that she will be running for a U.S. Congress seat.
Once the youngest mayor of Compton, Brown has decided to throw her name into the running to represent California’s 44th Congressional District.
“I have given my all to serve my community and now I’ve answered the call to serve the 44th District as our next congressional representative,” Brown said in a blog post on her website.
She added: “There is no doubt that our nation is in perilous times. Now, more than ever, we need strong leaders that can weather the storm, stay the course and stand fiercely on the front lines to effect change.”
Brown will be going up against incumbent Rep. Nanette Barragán and actress Stacey Dash, who announced she would be running for the seat last week.
Brown was reportedly inundated with urgent calls to run against Dash when the former actress and FOX News pundit announced she would be throwing her hat in the political ring. But Brown made it clear that Dash not was a motivation for her decision to run.
“To be clear, my decision to enter this race was not predicated on one person, but on the 700,000 residents of the 44th District,” she said.
Brown became the youngest mayor of Compton in 2013. She began her second term as mayor last year.