Mindy Leach

Mindy Leach earned a high school diploma from Cheney High School. She earned a degree from the Pacific University College of Optometry in 1989. Her career experience includes working as an optometrist.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm Dr. Mindy Sterner Leach, an Optometrist, small business owner, and longtime Great Falls community member. Senate District 12 is where I live, raised my family, practiced my profession and built our business.

My professional experience that qualifies me for this leadership position is the following. Optometry is a profession licensed and regulated by the State of Montana. I have been involved with the legislature every session of my career to protect or expand what is in our license. At our business, I take care of patients along with managing our practice and 20 employees. I am a past president of the Montana Optometric Association, past legislative chairperson for our district, past liaison for the American Board of Optometry and past MOA Children's Vision Committee chair.

In my personal life, I have been married to Dr. Morgan Leach for 36 years. We raised 2 fine young adults and I was very involved with their activities when they were still at home, as PTA president, soccer coach and referee and religious education teacher among other things.

In healthcare, listening is the first step in understanding a problem and bringing real solutions. I plan to bring that skill to serve the constituents of SD 12, Great Falls, and Montana; truly the Last Best Place.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I will support public education and the future workforce of Montana. Strong schools are the foundation of strong communities. Whether children grow up in our cities or a small town, they deserve to have access to a high-quality education. That means supporting our teachers and ensuring our schools are properly funded. It also means not just preparing students for college, but for good-paying jobs here in Montana, through vocational training, apprenticeships and partnerships with local businesses. For example at Central Montana Eyecare we train technicians and opticians on-the-job, encourage certification, and pay for their study materials and testing.Public health and safety are very important to me as a health care provider and mother. Access to affordable healthcare and prescription medications are what can change lives. For example, in our profession, eyeglasses can make a drastic difference in a child's ability to learn and an adult being legal to drive and an effective member of the workforce.

Living in a safe community is important to all of us, maybe especially those with children. Well-supported law enforcement and fire departments along with smart approaches to reduce crime and substance abuse are priorities of mine.The race for Montana Senate District 12 is a good example of bad politics.

In the primary, I am running against a man who identifies as a Democrat for this race but is concurrently running as a Republican for the 22B Precinct Committee, and has held office and run in numerous campaigns as a Republican. This misrepresentation shows a lack of respect for the electoral process.

We have received more than 16 mailers regarding the 2 Republicans in the primary. A few of these are paid for by the candidate but most are sent by dark money PACS and are vile accusations of gross misconduct. What I hear when I knock on doors is that people are sick of this nonsense.

We need to bring common sense back to Montana politics and I can deliver that.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Protecting our public lands are vital to who we are as Montanans. I am not interested in selling these precious resources to the highest bidder, especially those that would close off access to the public. Good management of these areas will help us and future generations keep hunting, fishing, hiking, skiing and this is something we can all agree on.

Taking care of our Veterans health and supporting our Veterans Administration just makes good sense to honor the service these people have given our country.