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Peter Strand (Montana)

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Peter Strand
Image of Peter Strand

Candidate, Montana House of Representatives District 63

Montana House of Representatives District 63
Tenure

2025 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

0

Compensation

Base salary

$104.86/legislative day

Per diem

$171/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

Occidental College, 1987

Graduate

Lesley University, 1993

Personal
Birthplace
San Francisco, Calif.
Profession
Teacher
Contact

Peter Strand (Democratic Party) is a member of the Montana House of Representatives, representing District 63. He assumed office on January 6, 2025. His current term ends on January 4, 2027.

Strand (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Montana House of Representatives to represent District 63. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Biography

Peter Strand was born in San Francisco, California. Strand's professional experience includes working as a teacher. He earned a bachelor's degree from Occidental College in 1987 and a graduate degree from Lesley University in 1993.[1]

Strand has been affiliated with Bozeman Public Schools and the Montana Federation of Public Employees.[1]

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

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Montana House of Representatives District 63

Incumbent Peter Strand is running in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 63 on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Peter Strand
Peter Strand (D)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia 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 63

Peter Strand defeated Mark Lewis in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 63 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Peter Strand
Peter Strand (D) Candidate Connection
 
53.4
 
3,255
Mark Lewis (R)
 
46.6
 
2,838

Total votes: 6,093
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 63

Peter Strand defeated John Hansen in the Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 63 on June 4, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Peter Strand
Peter Strand Candidate Connection
 
79.2
 
818
Image of John Hansen
John Hansen Candidate Connection
 
20.8
 
215

Total votes: 1,033
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia 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 63

Mark Lewis defeated Joe Flynn in the Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 63 on June 4, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Mark Lewis
 
66.9
 
534
Joe Flynn
 
33.1
 
264

Total votes: 798
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia 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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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Strand in this election.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

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2024

Candidate Connection

Peter Strand completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Strand's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm a teacher, a parent, a public servant. I've served children and families in Bozeman for nearly three decades, and I'm ready to serve the community in the Montana legislature.
  • We must respond to the needs of regular Montanans...rather than the wealthy elite. This means worker protections, respect for public lands, access to meaningful public services, and access to affordable living.
  • We must step up with robust support for public schools. Only with meaningful support for our schools will we prepare Montana for a meaningful future.
  • Costs. The cost of living here is skyrocketing. We must put our heads together to do something about it. Spiking our property taxes doesn't help. Empowering Northwest Energy to do what it wants doesn't help. Avoiding the hard questions about affordable housing doesn't help. We must take on related challenges with seriousness.
Education, Worker Protections, Energy, Housing, Environment, Healthcare
Thomas Meagher was the first governor of Montana. He was dedicated, brave, and always ready to do the hard work and take the big risks inherent to making the world a fairer, healthier, happier place.
Common sense, civility, commitment to the common good.
I'm an experienced and effective communicator, whether interacting with one person or speaking to a crowd. I have a long history of being persuasive, creative, ambitious, and hard-working. I also have lots of experience working collaboratively and as a team member when considering and problem-solving around challenging social issues.
Genuinely representing and communicating with constituents, advocating for the common good, treating colleagues and the office with respect.
I would like to be remembered as productive, collaborative, and creative. More importantly, I'd like to be remembered as someone who worked tirelessly and successfully for the common good.
I delivered newspapers by bike, and I had this job for two years.
I have far too many favorites to answer this question so simply. One that fits well here though: Timothy Egan's The Immortal Irishman.
Dealing with people who obstruct what we can accomplish because they have little interest in achieving anything more than serving their own self-interests.
The legislature develops laws that guide Montana to become the best version of itself. The governor inspires, proposes, and occasionally vetoes policy. The governor works politely, sensibly, and productively with legislators and bureaucrats.
1. Ensuring that Montanans, all of them, get the education necessary to propel us into a meaningful future.

2. Ensuring that the natural landscape, essential to Montana's identity, remains protected, vibrant, secure.

3. Ensuring that all Montanans have opportunities to thrive. This means access to reasonably priced housing. This means access to stable public services, when needed. This means access to water.
Not necessarily, but they should have experience that would help them to be successful contributors within the legislative context. My background isn't politics per se, but teachers deal with a range of challenges that prepare them well for the legislative context.
Building relationships with other legislators is critical to any kind of success. A legislator isn't one vote, after all. A legislator works within a community to solve problems and make things happen. If you sit in the corner, on your own, you can't get anything done.
I've heard many such stories while walking the streets. The most striking one to me was from a couple who described arriving in Bozeman in 1956 and the path they've led since. Their stories about change in the valley offer real perspective when considering all the challenges we face today.
If emergency powers are ever necessary, the legislature should most certainly oversee and grant them. The legislature should serve as the check on potential abuse.
Without the give and take of listening and articulating, learning and persuading, there is no meaningful legislating. While there are various bottom-line stances that I will not waver on, problem-solving as a group requires negotiation and compromise.
I would introduce a bill that applies cost-of-living adjustments when considering how much money should follow students to schools. Students in Bozeman should bring more money, for example, than students in Sidney. Housing costs alone are not comparable, and we need teachers everywhere.
Education, Business and Labor, Human Services, Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Energy

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.


Peter Strand campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Montana House of Representatives District 63Won general$30,014 $0
Grand total$30,014 $0
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Montana

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.














See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 23, 2023

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Montana House of Representatives District 63
2025-Present
Succeeded by
-


Current members of the Montana House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Brandon Ler
Majority Leader:Steve Fitzpatrick
Minority Leader:Katie Sullivan
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
Ed Byrne (R)
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
Paul Tuss (D)
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
Mike Fox (D)
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
District 70
District 71
District 72
District 73
District 74
Marc Lee (D)
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
District 81
District 82
District 83
District 84
District 85
District 86
District 87
District 88
District 89
District 90
District 91
District 92
District 93
District 94
District 95
District 96
District 97
District 98
District 99
District 100
SJ Howell (D)
Republican Party (58)
Democratic Party (42)