Cara Mund

Cara D. Mund ( ; born December 8, 1993)

Mund is a choreographer and dancer. In high school, she trained four summers with the Radio City Rockettes and was named one of their "Successful Rockette Women" in 2019. Since the age of 14, Mund has organized an annual fundraising fashion show benefiting the Make-a-Wish Foundation. In high school, Mund served as her school's National Honor Society president, graduated as one of her class' valedictorians, and was voted "most likely to become Miss America." In 2024, Mund was inducted into her high school's Hall of Fame.

She graduated with honors from Brown University in 2016 with a degree in business, entrepreneurship, and organizations. Her thesis was on the Miss America Organization. Mund served as the president of the sorority Kappa Delta. She has said that the school helped her "think on [her] feet." She was also inducted into the North Dakota Bluebook's "Notable North Dakotans" and recognized as one of "Five Women Who Changed North Dakota's History."

Prior to being crowned Miss America, she expressed her plan to attend law school. On September 23, 2022, Mund was sworn in and admitted to practice law in North Dakota.

Pageantry Early pageantry She began pageantry as a child, capturing the titles of Little Miss North Dakota, Miss Pre-Teen North Dakota, and Miss Junior Teen North Dakota. Mund later competed in Miss North Dakota's Outstanding Teen 2010 as Miss Red River Valley's Outstanding Teen 2010. She went on to win the competition, and competed in Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2011.

On September 10, 2017, Mund was crowned Miss America 2018 by Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields. Along with the title of Miss America, she received a $50,000 scholarship. Mund is the first contestant from North Dakota to win the Miss America title. She is also the last Miss America to compete in the swimsuit portion of competition.

During her reign, Mund served as the 2018 National Goodwill Ambassador for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and worked closely with the USO. In solidarity with the #MeToo movement, she wore black to the 2018 State of the Union, and in the March/April 2018 issue of the alumni magazine of her Ivy League school, she represented the Miss America organization, saying that it was the largest scholarship provider to women and that "it's more relevant than ever". She expressed an interest in its change from the inside positive towards its current trajectory, "the organization really did exactly what it was meant to do, and that was to empower women and give them the skills to be able to stand up for themselves." She further stated, "The rhetoric about empowering women, and openness and transparency, is great; however, the reality is quite different. I am living that difference. To stay silent is to give away my power and the power of the women who will follow me. I am not comfortable with any of us being controlled, manipulated, silenced, or bullied."

On December 8, 2019, Mund became the first and so far only Miss America to judge the Miss Universe competition.

Politics From August to December 2016, Mund interned for U.S. Senator John Hoeven, a Republican.

2022 House of Representatives election

On August 6, 2022, Mund announced her candidacy as an independent to represent North Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives. She cited the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision as her motivation to enter the race.

Mark Haugen, the Democratic–NPL candidate, withdrew from the race following her candidacy and pressure from individuals like former representative Earl Pomeroy over his pro-life positions. The Dem-NPL would endorse Mund after his withdrawal.

Despite polls showing a close race, with one even putting Mund behind by only 4%, she lost the election to incumbent Republican Kelly Armstrong by a vote of 148,399 (62.2%) to 89,644 (37.6%).

2024 House of Representatives election

On April 8, 2024, Mund filed paperwork and announced she would run in the NDGOP primary to replace Armstrong as he ran for governor. Mund campaigned as being a pro-choice, anti-Trump Republican candidate. She would face incumbent public service commissioner Julie Fedorchak, former state representative Rick Becker, farmer Alex Balazs, and activist Sharlet Mohr.

Mund participated in three of the four debates.

On June 11, 2024, Mund lost the primary. Coming in third of five candidates, she received 19%. Mund stated on the winning candidate Julie Fedorchak that "I do have concerns, too, during the last debate when she said there are post-birth abortions and just the misinformation on women's reproductive health care is really concerning."

On September 21, 2024, Mund was voted "Best ND Politician." She has stated she would not rule out running for office in the future.

Personal life Mund is Catholic.

Electoral history