Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Debo Powers
2025 - Present
2027
0
Debo Powers (Democratic Party) is a member of the Montana House of Representatives, representing District 3. She assumed office on January 6, 2025. Her current term ends on January 4, 2027.
Powers (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Montana House of Representatives to represent District 3. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.
Biography
Debo Powers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated from W.J. Woodham High School. She pursued undergraduate studies at Pensacola Community College and Florida State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1975. Powers' career experience includes working as a public school teacher and principal.[1][2]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 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.
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 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.
Elections
2026
See also: Montana House of Representatives elections, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Montana House of Representatives District 3
Incumbent Debo Powers is running in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 3 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
![]() | Debo Powers (D) |
![]() | ||||
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 is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Montana House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Montana House of Representatives District 3
Debo Powers defeated Cathy Mitchell in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 3 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Debo Powers (D) ![]() | 51.8 | 3,554 |
Cathy Mitchell (R) ![]() | 48.2 | 3,310 |
Total votes: 6,864 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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. |
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 3
Debo Powers defeated Guthrie Quist in the Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 3 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Debo Powers ![]() | 73.3 | 1,005 |
![]() | Guthrie Quist | 26.7 | 367 |
Total votes: 1,372 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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. |
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 3
Cathy Mitchell advanced from the Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 3 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Cathy Mitchell ![]() | 100.0 | 1,208 |
Total votes: 1,208 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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 Powers in this election.
2020
See also: Montana House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Montana House of Representatives District 3
Braxton Mitchell defeated incumbent Debo Powers in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 3 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Braxton Mitchell (R) ![]() | 60.0 | 3,586 |
![]() | Debo Powers (D) ![]() | 40.0 | 2,393 |
Total votes: 5,979 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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. |
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 3
Incumbent Debo Powers advanced from the Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 3 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Debo Powers ![]() | 100.0 | 1,099 |
Total votes: 1,099 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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. |
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Garrett Henson (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 3
Braxton Mitchell advanced from the Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 3 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Braxton Mitchell ![]() | 100.0 | 1,815 |
Total votes: 1,815 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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
To view Powers' endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Debo Powers has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Debo Powers, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 22,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
Help improve Ballotpedia - send us candidate contact info.
2024
Debo Powers completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Powers' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Collapse all
|I now live in rural Montana next to Glacier National Park in a solar-powered house surrounded by public land. I have spent my life in public service. First, as a public-school teacher and principal. Second, as a conservation and public lands advocate and a volunteer for Glacier National Park (wilderness patrol) and the Flathead National Forest (fire lookout).
I was appointed to the Montana Legislature in 2019 and served for 14 months until I lost election in 2020.- Protect our Public Lands. 93% of House District 3 is public land and should be represented by a public lands advocate.
- Quality Public Education. We need to change the state funding formula for public schools so that we can adequately fund quality public education and pay our teachers a living wage.
- Affordability. It is becoming harder for people to afford to live in House District 3, especially young adults and retired people on a fixed income. We need to lower residential property taxes and find affordable housing solutions.
--Good listener, personable, respect everyone, able to work with others
--Honesty, tell the truth
--Respect and support the Constitution and the rights of every individual
--Always try to do the right thing for your constituents and for the world
Montana AFL-CIO
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.
2020
Debo Powers completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Powers' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Collapse all
|I have always tried to find places in the world where I can make a difference. I have a proven track record of working with diverse groups of people to reach consensus and move things forward.
My great-grandparents homesteaded in North Dakota and farming has been in my family for generations. My father left the farm to serve in the military during WWII and remained after the war. As part of a military family, I lived in many different places when I was growing up. However, I fell in love with Montana when still a child and returned year after year to relish the beauty of the mountains, the rivers, and the wildlife. I saved my money and worked for twelve summers to build a solar-powered cabin off-the-grid next to Glacier National Park in order to realize my dream of living full-time in my beloved Montana. I have been exploring the backcountry of Northwest Montana since 1979.
I was appointed to the Montana Legislature in October 2019 after Zac Perry resigned from his seat. I am working hard to remain the Representative for House District 3.
- Protection of our public lands, clean air, and clean water
- Quality public education for all
- Vibrant, sustainable economy including good jobs, affordable housing, and quality healthcare
With that said, I taught social studies classes as a high school teacher and covered subjects like history, civics, government, economics, and law studies. The more I taught these subjects, the more my love for our democratic government grew. I think that in order to be most effective, legislators should have a clear understanding of our Constitution and how our government is intended to work. I had the opportunity to be a Congressional Intern in Washington, D.C. while I was in college. I worked for a Republican U.S. Senator on Capitol Hill.
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 the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard 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 to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
---|
In 2020, the Montana State Legislature was not in session. |
2019
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
---|
In 2019, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 7 through April 25.
|
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by - |
Montana House of Representatives District 3 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
Preceded by - |
Montana House of Representatives District 3 2019-2021 |
Succeeded by Braxton Mitchell (R) |