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Sandra Nelson
Sandra Nelson (Republican Party) ran for election to the Oregon House of Representatives to represent District 27. She did not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 5, 2024.
Nelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Sandra Nelson earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts in January 1974 and a graduate degree from the University of Illinois in January 1982.[1] Her career experience includes working as a teacher.[2]
Elections
2024
See also: Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Incumbent Ken Helm defeated Victoria Kingsbury in the general election for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ken Helm (D) | 74.0 | 25,142 |
| Victoria Kingsbury (R) | 25.9 | 8,780 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 35 | ||
| Total votes: 33,957 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Sandra Nelson (R)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Incumbent Ken Helm advanced from the Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ken Helm | 99.4 | 6,500 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 39 | ||
| Total votes: 6,539 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Sandra Nelson advanced from the Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sandra Nelson | 98.7 | 2,017 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.3 | 27 | ||
| Total votes: 2,044 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Nelson in this election.
2022
See also: Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Incumbent Ken Helm defeated Sandra Nelson in the general election for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ken Helm (D) | 71.2 | 22,375 |
| Sandra Nelson (R) | 28.7 | 9,007 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 37 | ||
| Total votes: 31,419 | |||
| = 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
Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Incumbent Ken Helm defeated Tammy Carpenter in the Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ken Helm | 60.1 | 5,781 |
 | Tammy Carpenter | 39.6 | 3,811 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 33 | ||
| Total votes: 9,625 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Sandra Nelson advanced from the Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sandra Nelson | 97.3 | 2,384 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.7 | 65 | ||
| Total votes: 2,449 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2020
See also: Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Incumbent Sheri Schouten defeated Sandra Nelson in the general election for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sheri Schouten (D / Working Families Party) | 69.3 | 25,539 |
| Sandra Nelson (R / L) | 30.5 | 11,257 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 53 | ||
| Total votes: 36,849 | |||
| = 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
Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Incumbent Sheri Schouten advanced from the Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on May 19, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sheri Schouten | 99.2 | 9,181 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 76 | ||
| Total votes: 9,257 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Sandra Nelson advanced from the Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on May 19, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sandra Nelson | 97.3 | 2,915 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.7 | 80 | ||
| Total votes: 2,995 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Oregon House of Representatives District 27
Sandra Nelson advanced from the Libertarian convention for Oregon House of Representatives District 27 on July 6, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Sandra Nelson (L) |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sandra Nelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Nelson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Though I was born and raised in New Jersey and lived in various states to pursue academic studies, my husband (a native-born Oregonian) wanted to return to Oregon to raise our children. I happily agreed.
I not only love the incredible natural beauty of Oregon and want to encourage a healthy stewardship of our natural resources, I also love the people of Oregon. These two loves are not contrary or incompatible with each other.
Because my Christian faith has been an integral part of my life for many years, I take seriously the direction of Scripture to use my God-given gifts to serve others. It’s through numerous volunteer activities over the years that I have met a great diversity of wonderful people.
But my heart is also breaking for them. Many people are floundering instead of flourishing, and much of that floundering has been caused by poor decisions of our policymakers. We can do better. I want to continue to serve the people I’ve grown to love but as a public servant, rather than as a private servant-volunteer.- I care about what my constituents care about. Homelessness continues to be one of their top concerns.
They tell me that our policymakers have created a huge homelessness industrial complex, spending many millions of dollars to meet the material needs of the homeless, which seems to encourage people to come from other states to benefit from the generous handouts of Oregon taxpayers.
A common-sense approach would be to include the following actions: o Replace “Housing First” with “Shelter First.” o Fund organizations with proven records of reducing homelessness (e.g. Bybee Lakes Hope Center). o Enforce public health and safety laws. o Recriminalize the sale and possession of hard drugs.
o Ensure compliance with rehabilitation mandates. - A second key message of my constituents is, “Our schools have changed! They no longer adequately prepare our children to succeed in life.” Most people agree that most parents know and love their children better than anyone else. They want the best education for their kids. As the Oregon Constitution provides, public funds should be used to fund the education of all Oregon children. Instead, our current system supports only one kind of school and discriminates against parents who would like a different kind of educational option. Education dollars should support the scholars, not any one institution. The focus should be on what is best for students. Parents should be the ones who make that determination.
- A third major concern of constituents is our economy. Many people tell me they are having a hard time making ends meet. We need to strengthen our economy. o Since energy is the lifeblood of every economy, we need to use clean, predictable, and low-cost sources of energy. o Reduce excessive taxes, red tape, and fees on individuals and businesses. o Increase tax credits for charitable giving. o Reform land use laws and building codes to increase housing availability. o Consider opening a state gold and silver depository for an alternative, state-based, constitutional monetary system, available for all to fight inflation, de-dollarization, and a dangerous Central Bank Digital Currency (See https://transactionalgold.com/.)
Literacy empowers people, opening worlds of opportunities and providing one of the most basic and necessary tools to flourish.
Teaching children to read, spell, and write is relatively easy and inexpensive, but politics and our educational industrial complex have hijacked these essentials skills. I am passionate about the education of Oregon children.
Nearly all the decisions of our legislators affect our rights in one way or another, either protecting our rights or diminishing them. I am passionate about protecting the rights of parents, businesses, and citizens.
When he sees a problem, rather than focusing on what’s wrong, he searches for people who are doing what’s right to solve the problem and concentrates on supporting their efforts and learning from them. He is a man of great compassion and humility, recognizing that he doesn’t have all the answers, but that there are a lot of good people out there who do. He calls himself a “radical pragmatist.”
As a representative of the people, should I be elected, I would have an open-door policy for my constituents and invite them to meet often and regularly with me at times and locations that are convenient to my constituents. Elected officials should be accountable to their constituents and give frequent updates/reports and make the time to listen, as well, to the concerns of the people they represent.
An elected official should be honest and transparent with constituents, not pandering to special interest groups above the general welfare of the people.
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.
2022
Sandra Nelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Nelson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Though I was born and raised in New Jersey and lived in various states to pursue academic studies, my husband (a native-born Oregonian) wanted to return to Oregon to raise our children. I happily agreed. And I don’t ever want to leave.
As much as I love the incredible natural beauty of Oregon and want to encourage a healthy stewardship of our natural treasures, I love the people even more.
Because my Christian faith has been an integral part of my life for many years, I take seriously the direction of Scripture to use the gifts I’ve received to serve others. It’s through numerous volunteer activities over the years that I have met a great diversity of wonderful people.
But my heart is also breaking for them. So many people are floundering now instead of flourishing, and much of that floundering has been caused by poor decisions of our policy-makers. We can do better. I want to continue to serve the people I’ve grown to love but as a public servant now, rather than as a private servant-volunteer.
- I care about people first and their flourishing in the area of education. Parents, not government schools, are the ultimate authority over their children's education. Because of this, "Dollars should follow the scholars." We need to show due respect towards all parents and their children.
- I care about people first and their flourishing in the area of economics. Decreasing taxes and cutting red tape will free more people to pursue their dreams. We need to show due respect towards all taxpayers.
- I care about people first and their flourishing in the area of energy use. A thriving, affordable lifestyle depends to a large extent on clean, predictable, low-cost sources of energy. We need to show due respect for all citizens.
I am most passionate about reminding voters of foundational principles. When things are not working, we need to ask “Why?”
Knowing how to read is foundational to understanding the “why” questions. Although I have tutored people of all ages and from many different backgrounds in various subjects, helping children and adults learn how to read has given me the most satisfaction. Knowing how to read empowers people, opening up worlds of opportunities. Literacy gives them the basic and necessary tools to flourish and make good choices.
We know what is needed to teach children how to read, spell, and write well (it’s relatively easy and inexpensive), but politics has hijacked these essential skills from many of our children. It’s one of several reasons that I support school choice. The politics of the National Education Association and even of our state legislature have taken over our public schools, and they are no longer adequately teaching children the traditional skills needed to be successful in life.
I am also passionate about protecting the rights of parents, businesses, and citizens. Nearly all the decisions of our legislators affect our rights in one way or another, either protecting or promoting our rights or restricting and diminishing our rights.
When he sees a problem, rather than looking at what’s wrong, he searches for people who are doing what’s right to solve the problem and concentrates on supporting their efforts and learning from them. He is a man of great compassion and humility, recognizing that he doesn’t have all the answers, but that there are a lot of good people out there who do. He calls himself a “radical pragmatist.”
As a representative of the people in his district, he should not only have an open door to his constituents but often and regularly invite them to meet with him at times and locations that are convenient to his constituents. He is accountable to his constituents and needs to give frequent updates/reports and make the time to listen, as well, to the concerns of the people he represents.
An elected official should be honest and transparent with her constituents, not pandering to special interest groups above the general welfare of the people.
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
Sandra Nelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Nelson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Freedom requires laws based on a firm foundation of universal, self-evident truths: the rights of every person to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- With rights come responsibilities - to ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and our environment.
- To perpetuate freedom and good government, we must educate ourselves and our children to live in such a way that will secure our safety and prosperity.
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.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
