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On the Rise - Erika Harold seemingly has it all: brains, beauty and the potential to make political history. The Illinois attorney and Republican congressional candidate has never held office, but is trying to win the GOP primary in her district. Here's how she got started. – Joyce Jones  (Photo: ErikaForCongress via Facebook) 

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She's a Brainiac - Harold, a Chicago native, earned an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Phi Beta Kappa inductee also was a Chancellor's Scholar was accepted by several law schools, including Harvard Law.(Photo: Courtesy of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

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There She Is - Harold joined the beauty pageant circuit to fund her law school education. After winning Miss Illinois 2002 and the Miss America crown in 2003, she earned thousands of dollars in scholarships to fund her law school education – debt free.(Photo: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)

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Ahead of the Times - Preventing Youth Violence and Bullying was the platform Harold promoted during her reign as Miss America.(Photo: Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images

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Why the GOP - "I'm a Republican because I believe that the Republican principles of fiscal conservatism and free-market economics creates the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people," she told the News-Democrat in 2012.(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Bush League - In 2004, Harold was a delegate for former President George W. Bush at the National Republican Convention, where she also had a speaking role.(Photo: Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images)

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Her First Time - The Illinois-based attorney hoped to be the Republican nominee for the newly drawn 13th congressional district. Party leaders, however, decided to run with Rodney Davis, who is now serving his first term in the House.(Photo: AP Photo/The State Journal-Register, Justin L. Fowler, File)

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Wishes She Wouldn't - “It’s sad because it seems like we just got over the last campaign," Davis said of Harold's latest bid. "I think the folks of this district are tired of the constant campaigning, which is why I’m going to focus on my job.”(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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History in the Making - If elected in 2014, Harold would become the first female African-American Republican to serve in Congress. Or one of two if Mia Love, mayor of Sarasota Springs, Utah, also wins her bid.(Photo: Courtesy of Erika Harold) Official Photo

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Old Boys Backlash - After sending an email in which he made sexist and racist remarks about Harold, Jim Allen, a local Republican Party chairman, was forced to resign. In the message, Allen called her a "street walker" and said that after the election she would be hired by firms seeking to meet their diversity quotas.(Photo: Courtesy of Erika Harold for Congress)

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Harold on the Issues - Harold would likely fit right in with House Republicans. She is pro-life and opposes proposals to increase individual and corporate tax rates and efforts to encroach on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.  (Photo: AP Photo/The News-Gazette, John Dixon, File)