Miss America 2018 Cara Mund is vying to become North Dakota’s first female member in the U.S. House of Representatives by running on a unique platform: she’s is a pro-choice, anti-Trump Republican.

Mund was crowned Miss America in 2017 at 23 years old, the only contestant from her state to achieve the title. She went onto get her law degree from Harvard Law School, and shortly after unsuccessfully ran for the congressional seat as an Independent.

Now she is part of a crowded Republican primary to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who is running for the state’s executive seat after Gov. Doug Burgum dropped out of the presidential race and announced he would not run for reelection as governor.

Polls by the North Dakota News Cooperative show her ranking in the middle of the pack. But she is hoping the state’s open primary election, which does not require voter registration, will allow her to pick up moderates, Independents and even some Democrats to bolster her standing.

Cara Mund outspoken on controversial issues during Miss America

Mund attended North Dakota’s public schools, went off to Brown University for her undergraduate degree, and later graduated from Harvard Law School.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

She did not shy away from controversial issues during the 2018 Miss America competition or during her time wearing the crown.

During the pageant, she criticized the Trump administration for pulling out of the Paris climate agreement.

After winning, she become embroiled in a public clash with the Miss America Organization leadership, saying she was “silenced,” “reduced,” and “marginalized” in her role as Miss America.

In 2022, she ran for the state’s only congressional seat as an independent. The Independent reported that she was motivated by the leaked Dobbs decision signaling the end to the right to an abortion. Mund lost with 37.6% of the vote against incumbent Armstrong.

Mund frames abortion, Trump’s convictions as a conservative issues

In a May 24 debate, four of the five U.S. House Republican candidates including Mund went head-to head-in a debate broadcast by local radio KFGO.

Mund repeatedly appeared to distinguish herself by pointing out she was the only moderate, the only lawyer and the only one to support issues contemporary Republicans typically shy away from.

She criticized Burgum for joining a parade of Republicans speaking around Trump’s gag order outside of the Manhattan courthouse where he was sitting trial. She called the other candidates in the primary “a puppet for Trump,” and said her legal experience led her to believe criminal cases don’t materialize as a “distraction,” as her opponents argued. Instead, she favored innocent until proven guilty, and no one is above the law.

Mund also called her opponents ignorant for their stances on abortion.

Instead of leaning into pro-life messaging that others in the debate stuck to, she argued that the right to abortion is in line with conservative values.

“As a conservative, I support limited government, and all of you wanna be in spaces that the government should not be. The government should not be in your bedroom, they should not be in your doctors appointments,” she said at the debate.

North Dakota is a deep red state

Mund’s stance against Trump could make her plea for voters an uphill battle.

Trump beat President Joe Biden in 2020 by more than 30 percentage points in North Dakota.

Plus, Mund’s rivals are outpacing her fundraising. Campaign finance data shows she has raised just over $17,500 as of May 22, while opponent Julie Fedorchak, a member of the public service commission, has raised nearly $1 million and received the coveted Trump endorsement.

Mund was not immediately available for an interview, but told USA TODAY in an email:

“Many of my supporters, including prominent fellow Republicans in the state, have been scared to speak out in support of my candidacy with the fear of retaliation from the Republican Party,” she wrote. “It is that fear that people are continuing to experience that reminds me of the importance of my candidacy.”