Melissa Mateer
Idaho House of Representatives, District 3 Seat A
Melissa Mateer, Democratic nominee for Idaho House District 3, Seat A
Melissa Mateer is the Democratic nominee for Idaho House District 3, Seat A, on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot. She won her May 19, 2026 primary unopposed, receiving 999 votes. Her opponent in November is Republican incumbent Vito Barbieri, who has held the seat since 2010.
Background
Mateer was born and raised in a factory neighborhood in Lorain County, Ohio, according to her campaign site. She studied at Bowling Green State University, earning a bachelor's and master's degree in economic geology, then worked in gold mines in northern Nevada before completing a PhD in geology at the University of Wyoming. She went on to run her own geologic consulting business, with projects in the Dominican Republic, Chile, Argentina, and Canada.
She and her partner, Jeff, have been together 25 years. They moved to Coeur d'Alene in 2016 after Jeff accepted a new position there. Mateer has lived in Idaho since 2009, according to the Kootenai County Democrats' candidate page. She kept consulting until 2020, when the pandemic ended most of her client base. After an extended period of unemployment, she says the need for health insurance led her to take a job with a major retailer, work she still does.
Why she is running
On her campaign site, Mateer says the legislature's most recent session "was spent slashing budgets for more than fifty essential programs" rather than pausing tax breaks for the wealthy. She writes: "I am not a lawyer. I am not a billionaire. I know the fear that comes with job insecurity, healthcare costs, and the uncertainty of having enough to pay the bills each month. I had to give up my career as a geologic consultant and work full-time at a major retailer just to have health insurance."
Positions
Mateer names healthcare as her signature issue. Her campaign site states that Sandpoint lost its last obstetrician-gynecologists, and the local hospital's labor and delivery unit, after Idaho's 2023 abortion ban, and that roughly 11 OB-GYNs now serve about 100,000 adult women region-wide, with gynecology wait times of five to six months. She says ten more rural hospitals are at risk of closure. She writes that she personally underwent eight eye surgeries in a single year after being forced to drop coverage she could not afford, and says she will work to protect Medicaid and defend the Affordable Care Act.
On women's rights, her site lists reproductive freedom, equal pay, protections for survivors, and opposition to new federal SAVE Act documentation requirements she says create obstacles for married women who changed their name to vote. On the state budget, she calls for pausing 2025 tax cuts for wealthy Idahoans and opposes cuts to schools, healthcare, police, and firefighters. Her campaign says it does not accept corporate PAC contributions.
Campaign finance
Per the Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine portal, Mateer has raised $10,889.64 this election cycle and spent $7,827.06, leaving $3,062.58 cash on hand. Her largest contributor is the Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee, which gave $1,500.
Sources
- Mateer for Idaho campaign site, stated positions
- Mateer for Idaho campaign site, her biography and motivation
- Kootenai County Democrats, candidate page
- Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine portal, campaign finance profile for Melissa Mateer
Profile published by IdahoVoters.com. Last updated September 24, 2026. This profile will be updated as additional information becomes available.
Frequently Asked Questions
- QWhat office is Melissa Mateer running for?
- AShe is the Democratic nominee for Idaho House District 3, Seat A, representing part of Kootenai County in North Idaho, on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot.
- QWho is her opponent?
- ARepublican incumbent Vito Barbieri, who has held the seat since 2010 and chairs the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee.
- QDid Mateer face a primary opponent?
- ANo. She won the May 19, 2026 Democratic primary unopposed, receiving 999 votes.
- QWhat is Mateer's professional background?
- AShe holds graduate degrees in geology and ran her own geologic consulting business internationally until the pandemic ended most of her client base in 2020. She now works for a major retailer, which she says she took on for its health insurance.
- QWhat does Mateer say is her signature issue?
- AHealthcare. She points to the loss of Sandpoint's OB-GYN care and labor and delivery unit after Idaho's 2023 abortion ban, and says she personally underwent eight eye surgeries in a year after losing coverage she could not afford.
- QWhat is Mateer's position on the SAVE Act?
- AHer campaign site says the federal law's documentation requirements create new obstacles to voting for married women who changed their name, and she lists it under her women's rights priorities.
- QHow much has Mateer's campaign raised?
- APer the Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine portal, her campaign has raised $10,889.64 this election cycle, spent $7,827.06, and has $3,062.58 cash on hand.