Dan Helmer


Daniel Isaac Helmer is an American businessman, United States Army veteran, and Democratic Member of the House of Delegates in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2019, he successfully ran for Virginia House of Delegates’ 40th district seat, defeating 18-year Republican incumbent Delegate Tim Hugo. The majority of the district’s population and landmass is located in Fairfax County. Helmer is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and a Rhodes Scholar. He has two boys with his wife, Karen, a Fairfax County Public School teacher.

Early life and career

Helmer was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey to Yaron Helmer and Dr. Lynn Helmer. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors and came to the United States as refugees.

Education

After graduating from his local public school, Helmer attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from West Point in 2003 and later received a Rhodes Scholarship, with which he earned a master's degree from the University of Oxford.
At Oxford, Helmer published a study on Israel’s 1982 – 2000 invasion and occupation of Lebanon that argued that Israel’s use of military force was unwise and unlikely to achieve the goals it sought.

Military Service

Helmer began his military service as an armor officer. He served with the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004. Afterwards, he was deployed again with the 1st Infantry Division to Afghanistan in 2007. In Afghanistan, Helmer was the lead instructor of the Counterinsurgency Academy, which helped soldiers to “understand local politics, culture and history” in order to increase local support for the Kabul government and more efficiently combat the Taliban.
After Afghanistan, Helmer spent three years in South Korea. He has continued his military service in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he was selected in 2017 for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and subsequently promoted.

Professional Career

Helmer joined the Boston Consulting Group in 2014. He helped lead BCG’s veterans’ outreach initiatives, and he served both public sector and private sector clients. Currently, he is a partner in a Virginia-based small business where he works to protect veterans' healthcare and support non-profit and private sector clients.

Congressional Election

In 2018, Helmer was a Democratic candidate for Virginia's 10th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. According to The Cook Political Report, former state senator Jennifer Wexton was “the substantial frontrunner” in the race and Helmer faced a significant uphill battle. Wexton won the Democratic primary election on June 12, 2018.
During the race, Helmer focused heavily on campaign financing. According to Helmer, his campaign “refused all donations from corporate PACs, the NRA, and Dominion Energy.”
In addition to campaign finance, Helmer made gun violence prevention a central issue of his campaign. Drawing on his military experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, Helmer called for closing gun sale loopholes, universal background checks, bans on high-capacity magazines, and Extreme Risk Protective Orders to combat gun violence.
While he was running for Congress, Helmer received national attention for his unique, occasionally provocative campaign ads.
In 2017, one of Helmer’s campaign videos entitled "Helmer Zone" went viral, reaching number four on the YouTube trending list within 24 hours. The video, in which Helmer spoofed the film “Top Gun” and sang “You’ve Lost That Centrist Feeling,” garnered mixed reactions.
Helmer had been an early and vocal proponent of impeaching President Trump. Another of Helmer’s campaign ads sparked controversy by saying, “After 9/11, the greatest threat to our democracy lived in a cave. Today, he lives in the White House.” The ad led to his sparring with hosts on the conservative talk show Fox & Friends.

Delegate for Virginia's 40th district

Election

In 2019, Helmer was the Democratic candidate for Virginia's 40th House of Delegates district. He ran against Republican incumbent Tim Hugo, who had been in office since 2003. The race broke Virginia's fundraising record for a House of Delegates election, with Helmer and Hugo raising a combined $3.6 million. Helmer won with 52% of the vote.
Similar to his Congressional bid, Helmer focused much of his campaign on his identity as an Army veteran and his support for the gun regulations proposed by Governor Ralph Northam.
Again, Helmer refused to take contributions from corporate PACs. In the first quarter of 2019, his campaign manager reported that he had received more than 500 individual contributions and amassed more than $124,000, the largest total raised by a challenger to a Republican House incumbent in Virginia history. Helmer would go on to raise $729,547 from individual donations, more than any candidate in House of Delegates history.

Committees and subcommittees

As a freshman in the Virginia General Assembly, Helmer sat on four committees: Agriculture Chesapeake and Natural Resources Communications, Technology and Innovation, Public Safety, and Transportation.
On those four committees, Helmer was a member of five subcommittees: Chesapeake, Firearms, Transportation Systems, Motor Vehicles, and Communications.

Key bills

The following are pieces of legislation of which Helmer was a patron or co-patron:

Gun Violence Prevention

Gun Violence Prevention

Helmer has long been an advocate for gun violence prevention. He credits his service in the Army with shaping his views on the regulation of firearms.
In May of 2018, Helmer went to a gun show in Chantilly and demonstrated how it was possible to buy an assault rifle, described by Helmer as "functionally similar" to what he had used in Afghanistan, without a background check in under 10 minutes. The video was picked up by major news organizations such as The Washington Post, The Hill, and Vox.
In 2018, Helmer headlined the Giffords Organization Veterans Tour, alongside Captain Mark Kelly to advocate on behalf of military veterans running for Congress who supported gun safety laws.
Helmer was Chief Co-patron of Virginia’s HB 2 which provides for Universal Background Checks, HB 674, which enables “Extreme Risk Protection Orders” also known as a “Red Flag Law,” and HB 1004, which prohibits those who are subject to certain protective orders from possessing firearms.
Helmer was the Chief Co-patron of Virginia’s Assault Weapon Ban, which sparked widespread protests by gun-rights advocates, as well as the formation of “second amendment sanctuaries” by conservative municipalities in Virginia. He has been endorsed by numerous high-profile gun control advocates, including the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords, and The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
In January 2020, Helmer introduced HB 567, a bill that would outlaw all indoor firing ranges in buildings with more than 50 employees in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The bill would have forced the NRA to close their indoor gun range at their headquarters in Fairfax. That same January, when gun rights activists descended on Richmond, Delegate Chris Hurst and Helmer allowed students representing March for Our Lives to sleep in their offices in Richmond in order to be able to participate in gun violence prevention advocacy.

Environment

Helmer has denounced the Trump administration for abandonment of environmental protections as well as denial of science.
In January of 2020, Del. Richard Sullivan Jr. introduced the Virginia Clean Economy Act with Helmer as a chief co-patron. The VCEA requires Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power “to produce their electricity from 100 percent renewable sources by 2045 and 2050.” The Washington Post has called the VCEA “the most forward-looking state energy plan in the South.”
Helmer’s support of conservation and climate change prevention has earned him endorsements from Clean Virginia, Clean Water Action, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, and the Virginia Sierra Club.

Women’s Rights

After Helmer and his wife, Karen Helmer, had their second child, Helmer says she was diagnosed with a condition that makes pregnancy potentially life-threatening. Helmer has stated that his wife's diagnosis strengthened his dedication to expanding Virginians’ access to affordable healthcare and protecting women's reproductive rights. He ran an ad in which his wife criticized his opponent’s opposition to women’s reproductive healthcare rights. Helmer voted for passage of HB 980, which removed restrictions on which types of healthcare professionals could perform an abortion. In April, CNN reported that “the new laws mae Virginia the first state to codify new abortion protections in 2020.”
Helmer was a vocal supporter of and voted for HJ1, passage of which made Virginia the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

Healthcare

As a partner of a small business that combats the exploitation of veterans by the pharmaceutical industry, Helmer has emphasized his experience standing up to special interest groups. On his website, he states that he aims to “make healthcare accessible and affordable to all.”
Helmer supported the establishment of a new in state Healthcare Exchange in Virginia, was co-patron of a bill that caps insulin co-pays in Virginia at $50 per month, and chief co-patroned a bill, HB 1559, that would have mandated transparency in prescription pricing.
Helmer has long supported adding a public option to enable all Americans to have access to Medicare through the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. In 2019, this led to his Republican opponent claiming that Helmer sought to abolish private insurance, which PolitiFact subsequently indicated “misstates Dan Helmer’s position on private health insurance.”

Economy and Workers' Rights

Helmer is a strong supporter of worker’s rights. He served as chief-co patron of HB 438 which mandates that law-enforcement officers and firefighters must be compensated for any post-traumatic stress disorder incurred because of their profession.
He also has been a leader in seeking to enact paid family medical leave in Virginia, including serving as chief co-patron of HB 825, which sought to establish a paid family medical leave program in Virginia.
Helmer’s support for workers’ rights has led the Virginia AFL-CIO and Virginia Professional Firefighters to endorse his campaign.

Education

Helmer’s wife Karen is a Virginia public school teacher and his two sons go to Fairfax County public schools. According to Helmer, his wife’s difficult work as a teacher motivated him to fight for adequate funding for school systems and increasing teacher salaries to combat overcrowding and educator brain drain.
Helmer also seeks to make school a safer place for students. In January of 2020, Helmer introduced HB 913, which grants immunity from punishment for drug and alcohol abuse to students reporting an act of sexual violence. Helmer has also supported efforts to protect schools from mass shootings and gun violence.

Governmental Reform

Helmer has been a vocal supporter of anti-gerrymandering legislation.
In March of 2020, Helmer, as part of the Virginia Commonwealth Caucus, published an opinion piece in The Washington Post calling for the passage of a constitution amendment that reforms the redistricting process. Ultimately, the Virginia House of Delegates voted to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would let a nonpartisan commission determine districts in what The New York Times described as “a blue-moon political step.”
Helmer has also been a critic of corporate campaign finance. In both his Congressional bid and his 2019 campaign for state representative, Helmer chose not to take contributions from corporate PACs. Helmer was a co-patron of Delegate Joshua Cole’s HB 111, which would have prohibited contributions from any public service corporation.

Immigration

As the son, grandson, and great-grandson of immigrants, Helmer has made immigrant rights a legislative priority.
Helmer, who served three years in South Korea, served as chief co-patron of HJ134, which designates October 9, 2020 and each succeeding October 9 as Hangul Day in Virginia in recognition of the Korean written language.
His immigration policy proposals have won him the endorsement of CASA in Action, the Korean-American Democratic National Organization, and the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium.

Infrastructure

Helmer spoke out against the lack of infrastructure funding to Virginia’s transportation systems. Virginia is home to what The Washington Post described as “the worst traffic "hot spot" in the country” on Interstate 95. He cites his own family’s experience with Virginia’s transportation challenges as one of his motivations for tackling the issue.

Criminal Justice Reform

Helmer was a chief co-patron of HB 972, which decriminalized Marijuana in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has stated his support for legalization as well. Furthermore, Helmer was co-patron of HB 366, which stood up a public defender’s office for the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and Prince William County.

Payday Lending

During the 2019 Virginia House of Representatives race, Helmer criticized his opponent, Tim Hugo, for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the predatory lending industry.
In January of 2020, Helmer introduced HB 1296, which “caps the rate of interest that may be charged on motor vehicle title loans, payday loans, and open-end credit plans.” The bill passed as HB 789. Subsequently, the largest payday loan firm in Virginia indicated they were leaving the state.

Foreign Policy

Helmer has called for active measures to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He supported President Obama’s 2015 Nuclear Deal.
In 2020, in response to civil unrest following the death of George Floyd, Helmer joined with other lawmakers to denounce President Trump’s discussion of deploying active duty troops to respond to the protests.