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Dan Helm (Florida)
Dan Helm (Democratic Party) ran for election for Orange County Supervisor of Elections in Florida. Helm lost in the Democratic primary on November 5, 2024.
Helm completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Dan Helm earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida and a J.D. from Emory Law School. Helm's career experience includes working as a lawyer.[1][2]
Elections
2024
See also: Municipal elections in Orange County, Florida (2024)
General election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Cynthia Harris (No Party Affiliation)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Orange County Supervisor of Elections
Karen Castor Dentel won election outright against Sunshine Grund, Dan Helm, and Wes Hodge in the Democratic primary for Orange County Supervisor of Elections on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Karen Castor Dentel  | 40.2 | 190,202 |
 | Sunshine Grund | 21.6 | 102,125 | |
 | Dan Helm | 19.6 | 92,445 | |
 | Wes Hodge | 18.6 | 87,900 | |
| Total votes: 472,672 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Joseph Davis (R)
Although Florida holds closed primaries, if all candidates in a race are from the same party, Florida law opens the primary to all voters—regardless of their party registration—in what is called a universal primary. Originally, the supervisor of elections race had four Democratic candidates in the primary and one No Party Affiliation (NPA) candidate in the general election, meaning it was not a universal primary. A circuit court order removed Cynthia Harris, the NPA candidate, from the general election ballot after early voting in the primary had begun. This decision meant that the Democratic primary became a universal primary. Because voting in the county had already begun, votes cast in the August Democratic primary were not counted and the primary was moved to the November general election date.[3]
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Helm in this election.
2020
See also: Municipal elections in Pinellas County, Florida (2020)
General election
General election for Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections
Incumbent Julie Marcus defeated Dan Helm in the general election for Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Julie Marcus (R) | 57.6 | 312,773 |
| Dan Helm (D) | 42.4 | 230,703 | |
| Total votes: 543,476 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Dan Helm advanced from the Democratic primary for Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Leonard Schmiege (D)
- Mike McGraw (D)
- Ruqaiyah McGee (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Julie Marcus advanced from the Republican primary for Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Audra Bonneau (R)
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Dan Helm completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Helm's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Dan’s passion for the electoral process blossomed during his time at the University of Florida, where he actively participated in voter registration initiatives. After graduating from the University of Florida, Dan attended Emory Law School. There, he deepened his understanding of the critical role that voting plays in safeguarding all other rights.
In 2016, Dan served as the Deputy Regional Director for Voter Protection in Central Florida. He trained and coached hundreds of lawyers and volunteers in election law, ensuring that polling locations were properly managed and that voter rights were protected across 13 counties.
In 2018, Dan successfully sued against election law violations, which were disenfranchising voters, in Orange County.
In 2020, Dan took a stand against voter fraud by calling out illegal voting activities in Orange County by Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.
Dan's personal life is deeply rooted in Florida. He and his wife, Rose, were married in Apopka and now reside in downtown Orlando with their son, Charles, and two rescue dogs. The Helms enjoy family walks to local parks and are expecting their second child this Fall. Dan's commitment to protecting the electoral process is driven by his desire to secure a better future not just for his children, but for the entire country.- Dan Helm wants to keep voting in Florida S.A.F.E. SAFE: Secure, Accessible, Fair, Elections.
- Secure from threats of COVID, Cyber Attacks, Voter Intimidation. Accessible ballots by expanding Early Voting and Postage Paid Vote-By-Mail. Fair Systems, including following the law and having a transparent process.
- Every Vote Counts.
Fair Elections.
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.
2020
Dan Helm completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Helm's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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As a competitive soccer and chess player, Dan traveled all over beautiful Pinellas participating in competitive sports. He learned at a young age a love of games, but also a deep appreciation of the rules. Dan co-founded the debate club at Lakewood Highschool and became increasingly passionate about the Constitution and voting rights issues.
Dan attended the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dan was active in Gainesville in voting issues, including personally registering many voters.
While there, Dan met the love of his life: Rose.
After graduation from the University of Florida, magna cum laude, Dan attended Emory Law School. Dan came to understand that the right to vote is what ultimately protects every other right we have. It is paramount that we have a process that protects voters rights.
Dan has extensive experience working on Voter Protection issues.
Dan, a member of the Florida bar, successfully sued in 2018 for election law violations and forced elected officials to follow Florida election law.
Dan and Rose married this January 2020. Rose is a practicing Physicians Assistant. They have two lovely and spoiled rescue dogs, Mithra and Juno.
- Dan Helm wants to keep voting in Florida S.A.F.E. SAFE: Secure, Accessible, Fair, Elections.
- Secure from threats of COVID, Cyber Attacks, Voter Intimidation. Accessible ballots by expanding Early Voting and Postage Paid Vote-By-Mail. Fair Systems, including following the law and having a transparent process.
- Every Vote Counts.
Fair Elections.
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.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Orange County Supervisor of Elections |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 7, 2020
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 7, 2024
- ↑ Click Orlando, "Judge throws no-party-affiliate candidate off ballot in Orange County elections supervisor race," August 16, 2024
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