Todd Helm

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Todd Helm

Constitution Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Montgomery Bell Academy

Bachelor's

Wake Forest University, 1987

Graduate

School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, 1998

Personal

Birthplace

Tucker, Ga.

Profession

Chief executive officer

Contact

Campaign website

Todd Helm (Constitution Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent North Carolina's 10th Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Helm completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Todd Helm was born in Tucker, Georgia. He graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University in 1987 and a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies in 1998. His career experience includes working as the founder and CEO of a not for profit, as a high school math teacher, and as a coach.

Elections

2024

See also: North Carolina's 10th Congressional District election, 2024

North Carolina's 10th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)

North Carolina's 10th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 10

Pat Harrigan defeated Ralph Scott Jr., Steven Feldman, and Todd Helm in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 10 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pat Harrigan (R)	57.5	233,814
		Ralph Scott Jr. (D)	38.2	155,383
		Steven Feldman (L)	2.9	11,614
		Todd Helm (Constitution Party)	1.4	5,884

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 406,695
= 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Darren Warren (Independent)

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Ralph Scott Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 10.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 10

Pat Harrigan defeated Grey Mills Jr., Brooke McGowan, Charles Eller, and Diana Jimison in the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 10 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pat Harrigan	41.2	36,028
		Grey Mills Jr.	38.9	34,000
		Brooke McGowan	10.1	8,795
		Charles Eller	6.9	6,076
		Diana Jimison	2.9	2,535

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 87,434
= 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

• Patrick T. McHenry (R)

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Steven Feldman advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 10.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Helm in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Todd 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.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a son, a husband, and a father to three adult children. In the 1970’s, I met Jesus; he changed my life; he is the most important truth that I have to share. The decision to marry was, for me, a great decision. My wife is my closest friend and most precious asset. I enjoy growing plants and animals. I believe America is a wonderful nation, and I find it to be a privilege to meet my neighbors and to participate in our democracy. I am an INDEPENDENT. If elected, I will caucus with the Republicans, but I will listen to every citizen and vote with common sense as an independent candidate is free to do and must do. I will hold both parties accountable to make government function again.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We can balance the federal budget. DEBT is the biggest issue facing America today. Our national security depends on balancing the budget and getting our economy back on a stable foundation. Strong people live within their means, and America is a nation of strong people. The one act that will have the greatest impact on our economy and on our culture of government is to balance the federal budget. Doing that will give consumers confidence again; It will stop inflation; it will fulfill the social contract that citizens in America have with Congress. You see, it is the job of congress to write and to pass a balanced budget. Writing and passing and functioning with a balanced budget will force all of us to work together.
• We can fix immigration. America is a nation of legal immigrants. We should insist on 100% legal, orderly immigration. We should stop accepting asylum claims at the border. People from all over the world want to come here. We must persevere in talking to each other, write new laws, and enforce laws that protect our citizens and that allow us to compete for and grow our labor force.
• We can get matters regarding Life and Family right. Human sexuality fits within the framework of marriage. The goal of marriage is one man, one woman, one lifelong union. We must stop using tax dollars to promote and protect abortion and homosexuality. Children need a father and a mother. Children are not a commodity. When we place children through adoption or foster care into a home with a mother and a father, we do good. I do not support placing children into any other style home. Children are not a consumable good that can be had by one who demands. Parents are in charge of children and those in authority must protect. My goal for my time in office is to fix immigration and to balance the federal budget.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am concerned with fiscal policy, how government spending and taxation impact the economy.
I am concerned with social policy. Republicans and Democrats and Hollywood have failed to articulate the truth about human sexuality. Their platforms, their messages, are faulty. The U.S. government is being used to teach that sinful choices are “not that bad.” Choices that have negative consequences are being protected as if the decision to sin were a human right. Some people choose to drink alcohol to the point of being drunk, but no one ever used the government to teach that alcoholism is “a protected right or a lifestyle that is commendable.” In a similar way, government support for the LBGTQ agenda should stop.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Clarence Jordan is one of my heroes. In the 1940’s, he paid black farm labor the same as he paid white farm labor. He addressed the reality of racism in the way he lived his life. Clarence Jordan is a wonderful example of boldness, perseverance, and compassion. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant are two of my heroes. They ended the civil war and kept it from becoming a guerilla war. Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich are two of my heroes. They cooperated and balanced the federal budget for four years. John Patton is one of my heroes. He was an outstanding athlete, and he has a humble attitude.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

The Constitution

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials should pray. Prayer changes things. With prayer we confess our sin as individuals and as a nation and we move on in repentance to stop repeating the errors that have made us stumble in the past. With prayer, we listen closely and are able to get in step with what God is doing. Elected officials should be men and women who pray.

Elected officials should understand that God provides. It is God who sends the rain on our fields and causes our crops to produce. God gives men and women the capacity to work and produce wealth. Since God is the one who provides, we can live with contentment. There is enough money. As stewards of what God provides, we can concentrate on managing and using wisely the good things that come from God’s hand. Elected officials should know that God provides.

Elected officials should be ready to give an account. Elected officials must be ready to make clear decisions, to be patient, and to stand firm. Grumbling against one another will be judged. Those in authority must protect the citizens whom they oversee. All of us must give an account. It is the role of government to commend those who do good and to punish those who do evil. Elected officials must be ready to give an account.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

In Numbers 25, we learn about Boldness. Now God is holy and God does not tolerate false gods who would compete with the one true God for glory and honor. In Numbers 25, a man named Phinehas acts with boldness and because of his obedient action, the Bible says, “the plague against Israel was stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.” Boldness is not about violence. Boldness is zeal that leads us as individuals and as a community to right action. With boldness, not by hesitation and indecision, we are to protect our families, our communities and our nation. I aspire to act with boldness.

In Numbers 7, we learn about Perseverance. When Moses and the people of Israel finished setting up the tent in which they would offer sacrifices to God, they anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings. They called the tent the Tabernacle. Then, for 12 days, the 12 tribes brought offerings for the dedication of the altar. The story tells the name of each leader, and we read in detail the content of each set of gifts. Numbers 7 is a story of obedience and perseverance and when we get to the end of the chapter, we see the result. Those people persisted in doing what they knew was the right thing to do. I aspire to act with perseverance.

In Joshua 22, we learn about Compassion. Now Israel was composed of 12 tribes. At one point in their history, 2 and a half of those tribes built an altar, a huge and imposing altar, in their land. When the other 9 and a half tribes heard this news, they were ready to go to war. As the soldiers prepared to do battle, the leaders sent Phinehas to investigate. Phinehas asked a question that every father needs to know how to ask: “What are you doing?” Phinehas listened and talked with those with whom he had a conflict. He took his report back to the soldiers. The Bible says, “They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war.” I aspire to act with compassion.

What legacy would you like to leave?

My goal for my time in office is to fix immigration and to balance the federal budget.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Apollo 11 was a spaceflight that took place July 16 – 24, 1969. It was the first time that humans walked on the moon. I was four at the time. Perhaps I remember it as the memory was reinforced by and is associated with other spaceflights when school or family gathered around a TV to watch. The contrast of being able to place men on the moon in 1969 with great technical know-how and at great expense to the nation and yet, in 1983, not knowing in how to stop homelessness or to end famine has remained with me all my life. I studied International relations and I run an organization of private citizens who ask, “What shall we do in a hungry world?”

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was working for Don Shaw at Comfort Supply, a heating and cooling contractor. I made $3.15 per hour, and I worked there for three summers doing maintenance at rental properties, cleaning a coin laundry facility, running a weed eater, and doing whatever I was asked to do. I ended that job after the summer of 1983 making $3.25 per hour.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes, if you have a candidate who shares your values and who has previous experience then that may be a strategic or comparative advantage. But, our system is broken, and we need to change our culture of government. We need new and non-traditional approaches. Government is a tremendously large shared venture. Representatives make common sense, principle based, decisions on the direction in which government should move. Newcomers as well as experienced persons can learn to work effectively in politics.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

We must balance the federal budget. We must begin to manage our debt crisis by deciding to stop adding more debt. At this historical moment when our society experiences deep difference, we must talk to each other and go forward together. I am not a soldier or a doctor or a lawyer. I am just a farmer who has spent 20 years engaging a culture of people who shared a worldview very different than my own and finding initiatives that we could work on together. Private citizens solve problems. Experience relating to people who are deeply different than me is my highest qualification to serve for this term as representative of the 10th Congressional District.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Voters must vote their conscience. The idea of contractual governance teaches me that when the two traditional parties do not give me the legislative results that I want, I should vote them out and put a new representative in place. Our system allows for the voters to rise up and change our elected officials every two years. In 2024, we need a change. If we keep on electing republicans and democrats, then we will keep getting the same result: a budget out of balance, gridlock instead of control at the border, failure to enforce the debt limit and immigration law, and a widening disrespect for our police force and for those who are in authority in our schools and towns and families.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Representative Paul Ryan and Senator Rand Paul are two elected officials that I admire.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

In order to make laws, elected representatives must form coalitions, make compromises in line with principles, and work together to vote good legislation forward. However, voters should not compromise their values to get behind a major party platform or candidate. I am running for office so that my neighbors and I would not have to compromise our values for the sake of agreeing with a traditional party. When voters compromise and fail to vote their conscience, they send false signals to representatives, and it results in policy making that diverges more and more from the will of the people.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Congress must pass a budget that causes money coming in (tax revenue) to equal or to exceed money going out (government spending). In moving to that goal, federal tax revenue and expense by state should be evaluated. Some states are net receivers of federal benefits while other states are net donors. Each department of the federal government must be prepared to uniformly cut programs until the budget is in balance. Line item veto power should be restored to the President as a guard against irresponsible behavior by congress in the future.

Based on 2023 figures, money going out was $6.1 trillion or 22.7% of GDP. Money coming in was $4.4 trillion or 16.5% of GDP. The deficit, $1.7 trillion or 6.3% of GDP must be erased over two years. In other words, congress must extract 1.7 trillion from the economy over two years. Congress must reduce federal spending by 0.85 trillion each year, for two years. This is a reduction of $850 billion each year for two years. Taking away that much money from the overall economy will create a shock. In order to follow this gradual approach, the debt ceiling must be raised by one trillion, and no more. We must elect representatives who will lead us back to a normal set of expectations for government, cut spending, negotiate for a balanced budget, and steer our economy back to a sustainable path.

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 website

Helm’s campaign website stated the following:

“	Why are constituents voting for HELM ? Reason #1 DEBT Helm identifies federal debt as the biggest issue facing America today. The one way to manage national debt is to stop adding to it. We can balance the budget and we must. Young voters, the people who have to pay off the debt, support Helm. For 40 years, republicans and democrats have been over spending and under funding government. If we keep electing them, we will keep getting imbalance. Reason #2 IMMIGRATION America needs to write and to enforce laws to fix immigration. Putting the issue off until after the election season is not a solution. With perseverance and focus we need to debate and pass new laws. Immigration law is law; immigration law should be carried out at every level of law enforcement. Legal immigrants support Helm. For 40 years, republicans and democrats have increasingly failed to write and enforce laws on immigration. If we keep electing them, we will keep getting gridlock. Reason #3 LIFE AND FAMILY Protecting human life and correctly defining family are essential matters. MARRIAGE MEANS ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN, ONE LIFELONG UNION. Every child deserves a father and a mother. Abortion is wrong. Seeing a presidential candidate campaign on a woman’s singular right to kill her baby is not normal. US taxpayer dollars should not be used to perform or promote abortion. Homosexuality is wrong. The LBGTQ agenda is morally bankrupt. It is not a human rights issue – it is sin. As with alcoholism, no government worker should ever defend or encourage such a lifestyle choice to our children. US taxpayer dollars should not be used to promote or protect homosexual behavior. Republicans and democrats have failed to speak the truth about human sexuality. If we keep electing them, we will keep getting Hollywood pornography in the place of honest answers.	”
—Todd Helm’s campaign website (2024)

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.

---

Todd Helm campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House North Carolina District 10	Lost general	$24,657	$24,226
Grand total			$24,657	$24,226
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

U.S. House North Carolina District 10

Website

Footnotes

[show]

North Carolina's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Ted Budd (R)

Thom Tillis (R)

Representatives

District 1

Donald Davis (D)

District 2

Deborah Ross (D)

District 3

Gregory Murphy (R)

District 4

Valerie Foushee (D)

District 5

Virginia Foxx (R)

District 6

Addison McDowell (R)

District 7

David Rouzer (R)

District 8

Mark Harris (R)

District 9

Richard Hudson (R)

District 10

Pat Harrigan (R)

District 11

Chuck Edwards (R)

District 12

Alma Adams (D)

District 13

Brad Knott (R)

District 14

Timothy Moore (R)

Republican Party (12)

Democratic Party (4)