Meet Valynda

I wasn’t born into politics. I wasn’t born into wealth or privilege. My path to public service has been shaped by hardship, resilience, and a lifelong belief that when something is broken, we have a responsibility to stand up and make it better.

I was born in Monterey, California, and moved to Montana before my third birthday. Deer Lodge is where I grew up, and Montana has always been home. While I attended Powell County High School, my path was anything but easy. At fifteen years old, I found myself on my own, moving throughout Montana and learning firsthand what it means to struggle, adapt, and persevere. I graduated from Bridger Alternative High School in Bozeman independently at just seventeen years old—a milestone that taught me one of the most important lessons of my life: when the odds are against you, determination matters.

When the odds are against you, determination matters; that determination has shaped every chapter of my life.

Over the years, I have lived in Minnesota, California, Nevada, and Montana, allowing me to experience different communities, different economies, and different approaches to public policy. I continued my education at Cypress College in Cypress, California, before earning my diploma in Medical Billing and Coding from Northwest Career College in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Education has always represented opportunity to me. It was never something I took for granted. That passion for learning ultimately led me to Southern New Hampshire University, where I proudly graduated Cum Laude in July 2026 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

My work ethic began long before college. I entered the workforce at just fourteen years old, washing dishes for a local restaurant in Deer Lodge. Over the years, I worked my way through nearly every position in the food service industry—from prep cook and line cook to server and bartender. Those experiences taught me far more than how to earn a paycheck. They taught me the dignity of hard work. They taught me teamwork. They taught me humility. But most importantly, they taught me what millions of working Americans already know: when you’re living paycheck to paycheck, every dollar matters, every shift matters, and every government decision has real consequences for real families.

As my career evolved, I entered the healthcare field, specializing in medical billing, coding, insurance claims processing, and revenue cycle management. Working alongside patients, healthcare providers, and insurance companies gave me an inside look at both the strengths and shortcomings of our healthcare system.

I witnessed how rising healthcare costs, confusing insurance policies, and administrative barriers often prevented people from receiving the care they needed. Those experiences strengthened my commitment to building a healthcare system that works for patients—not just insurance companies.

Later, my work in housing and property management reinforced another reality facing Montana families. I saw firsthand how rising rents, limited housing availability, corporate ownership, and an increasingly difficult housing market placed enormous pressure on working people simply trying to find a place to call home. Those experiences continue to shape my commitment to expanding affordable housing while protecting both renters and responsible property owners.

Throughout my life, I’ve also learned that meaningful change doesn’t happen unless someone is willing to speak up. Earlier in my career, I worked in the adult entertainment industry, where I witnessed firsthand how vulnerable workers could be to exploitation. Dancers were routinely classified as independent contractors while being treated as employees—required to work scheduled shifts, follow workplace rules, and subjected to financial penalties that stripped away the independence they were promised. Rather than accepting those practices, I became involved in advocating for workers’ rights and helped spearhead one of two successful class-action lawsuits challenging them. Together, we secured victories that reinforced an important principle:

Every worker deserves dignity, fairness, and the protections guaranteed under the law—regardless of their profession.

That commitment to standing up for working people continued during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, while living in Las Vegas, I became an advocate for independent contractors and gig workers who had gone months without receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits they had been promised. As families struggled to pay rent, buy groceries, and survive, I helped organize a public protest demanding accountability from state leadership. The protest helped bring public attention to the delays and increased pressure to finally distribute desperately needed assistance to thousands of displaced workers. Watching those benefits finally begin reaching families reinforced something I’ve believed throughout my life:

Government works best when it is transparent, accountable, and responsive to the people it serves.

My commitment to public service began long before I ever decided to run for office. At eighteen years old, I became involved in Ken Pentel’s campaign for Governor of Minnesota with the Ecology Democracy Party. Years later, while living in Southern California, I volunteered for Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and served as a poll worker in Orange, California.

Those experiences taught me that democracy is strongest when ordinary people choose to participate—not just on Election Day, but every single day.

Many of the issues I fight for today are deeply personal. My family has experienced both the successes and failures of our criminal justice system. My brother is one of hundreds of Montanans housed more than one thousand miles away from home in a private CoreCivic prison in Mississippi.

Watching loved ones navigate incarceration has given me a perspective few policymakers ever experience firsthand. It has reinforced my belief that public safety and accountability should always remain priorities—but so should rehabilitation, mental health treatment, transparency, and keeping families connected whenever possible.

These experiences are why criminal justice reform isn’t simply a policy issue to me. It’s personal.

Running for the Montana Senate has allowed me to spend countless hours listening to people across our communities and throughout Montana.

Whether I’m knocking on doors, standing alongside union workers on a picket line, speaking during public comment, attending City Commission meetings, participating in the Governor’s Energy Task Force meeting, working with the Great Falls Development Alliance, serving on the Advisory Board for the Mansfield Center for the Performing Arts, or simply sitting down for a conversation over tea… every interaction teaches me something new. Again and again, I hear many of the same concerns.

Families are struggling to afford housing.

Healthcare costs continue to rise.

Workers want fair wages, dignity, and respect.

Parents want strong public schools.

Small businesses want opportunities to grow.

And Montanans want a government that listens before it legislates.

More recently, one issue has consistently emerged in conversations across our state: the rapid expansion of large-scale data centers.

Through my participation in state energy discussions, independent research, and conversations with farmers, ranchers, labor leaders, business owners, energy experts, and everyday Montanans, I have become committed to ensuring that economic development never comes at the expense of working families.

Montanans deserve affordable utility rates.

We deserve to protect our water resources.

We deserve responsible stewardship of our agricultural lands.

We deserve transparency when decisions are made that could shape our state’s future for generations.

We deserve transparency when decisions are made that could shape our state’s future for generations.

Today, I continue serving my community as a member of the Advisory Board for the Mansfield Center for the Performing Arts, working alongside others to preserve one of Great Falls’ most treasured cultural institutions. Whether I’m advocating for workers, protecting public resources, defending affordable healthcare, supporting our arts community, standing with organized labor, or fighting for responsible energy policy, my philosophy remains the same:

The best leaders don’t start by talking. They start by listening.

When I’m not campaigning, you’ll usually find me spending time with my English Springer Spaniel, Fiona, and two rescue cats, Linus and Lionel, who remind me every day to appreciate life’s simple joys.

My journey has never followed a straight path. I’ve washed dishes, cooked meals, served tables, tended bar, fought for workers’ rights, navigated our healthcare system, worked in housing, earned my education step by step, organized for my community, and dedicated my life to serving others.

I know what it means to struggle. I know what it means to work hard. And I know what it means to keep moving forward.

Because leadership isn’t about having all the answers.

It’s about having the courage to listen, the determination to act, and the humility to remember who you’re fighting for.

That’s the leadership I will bring to Helena.