Representative Ken Helm - Contact Information

Ken Helm is an American lawyer and politician from Oregon. A Democrat, he serves in the Oregon House of Representatives, representing House District 27 in Beaverton and Cedar Hills. Helm was first elected in 2014, winning the Democratic primary on May 20, 2014, and facing no Republican opposition in the general election.

Personal Life: Helm grew up in Bend, Oregon and lived briefly in Chicago as an adult. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a juris doctor, both from Willamette University. He is a land use lawyer by training, starting his career as a clerk for the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. Helm is a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

Electoral History: Helm has had a successful electoral history. In 2014, he won the Democratic primary for the 34th district and faced no Republican opposition in the general election. He continued to serve the 34th district until 2021. In 2022, he was elected to represent the 27th district.

Career: Helm started his career as a clerk for the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. In 1997, he took a position with the land use staff at Metro, the regional government in the Portland area that manages the urban growth boundary. He was responsible for defending Metro’s first urban reserve decision in the late 1990s. During that same time, he shepherded a landmark regional riparian protection ordinance through Metro’s process and later defended that decision. In the early 2000s, Metro expanded the urban growth boundary and Helm was again tapped to write findings supporting that decision.

Prior to joining the Oregon Legislature, Helm established and ran his own solo law practice. One of his primary practice areas included serving as a land use and code enforcement hearings officer for cities and counties around the state. He worked to ensure that all of his land use decision were thoughtful, fair, and legally sound, and he takes pride in the nearly perfect record of his decisions being affirmed by Oregon courts.