Melody Cunningham
Melody Cunningham (Democratic Party) is a member of theMontana House of Representatives, representingDistrict 97. She assumed office on January 6, 2025. Her current term ends on January 4, 2027.
Cunningham (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to theMontana House of Representatives to representDistrict 97. She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled onJune 2, 2026.
Biography
Melody Cunningham was born inAugusta, Maine. Cunningham's career experience includes working as a physician. She earned a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1988 and an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts in 1994.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Cunningham was assigned to the following committees:
Elections
2026
See also: Montana House of Representatives elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on June 2, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 97
IncumbentMelody Cunningham is running in the Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 97 on June 2, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Melody Cunningham | |
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. | |||
 = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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2024
See also: Montana House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Montana House of Representatives District 97
Melody Cunningham defeatedNick Knowles andRichard Armerding in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 97 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melody Cunningham (D) | 60.3 | 3,651 |
| Nick Knowles (R) | 35.6 | 2,152 | ||
 | Richard Armerding (L) | 4.1 | 247 | |
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 6,050 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 97
Melody Cunningham defeatedLisa Verlanic Fowler in the Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 97 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melody Cunningham | 82.9 | 1,348 |
| Lisa Verlanic Fowler | 17.1 | 278 | ||
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 1,626 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 97
Nick Knowles advanced from the Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 97 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nick Knowles | 100.0 | 846 | |
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 846 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for Montana House of Representatives District 97
Richard Armerding advanced from the Libertarian primary for Montana House of Representatives District 97 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Richard Armerding | 100.0 | 5 |
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 5 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Cunningham in this election.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Melody Cunningham has not yet completedBallotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.Send a message to Melody Cunningham asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Melody Cunningham,click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
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You can ask Melody Cunningham to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing MelodyforMontana@gmail.com.
2024
Melody Cunningham completedBallotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cunningham's responses.
Expand all |Collapse all
- I have been able, as a citizen, to reach across the aisle and share viewpoints and solutions. I believe that it is imperative to have civil conversations for shared, sensible solutions.
- Public education is the foundation of democracy and a society that allows all citizens the best opportunity to thrive.
- Medical decisions are private and often require many hours of careful, nuanced discussion. The government should not be allowed to intrude in the doctor's office and impose rules on medical decision-making.
-Accessible and affordable healthcare
-Honesty
-Courage to stand up for principles
-I have a good sense of humor.
-To know their constituents and make sure they are able to reach their elected official
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.
| Year | Office | Status | Contributions | Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Montana House of Representatives District 97 | Won general | $28,838 | $0 |
| Grand total | $28,838 | $0 | ||
| Sources:OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). | ||||
Scorecards
Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Montana scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Candidate Montana House of Representatives District 97 | Officeholder Montana House of Representatives District 97 | Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 6, 2024
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - | Montana House of Representatives District 97 2025-Present | Succeeded by - |
- 2024 challenger
- 2024 general election (winner)
- 2024 primary (winner)
- 2026 incumbent
- 2026 primary
- Current member, Montana House of Representatives
- Current state legislative member
- Current state representative
- Democratic Party
- Montana
- Montana House of Representatives candidate, 2024
- Montana House of Representatives candidate, 2026
- State House candidate, 2024
- State House candidate, 2026
- State house candidates
