Beth Gardner Helfrich is a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 98. Helfrich was first elected in November 2024, defeating Republican Melinda Bales with about 52 percent of the vote after winning the Democratic primary earlier that year, and took office in January 2025. The race moved the northern Mecklenburg County seat, which includes Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville, from Republican to Democratic control after incumbent John Bradford III did not seek re-election. Helfrich is a candidate for a second term in the November 2026 election.1
A third-generation resident of Davidson, Helfrich graduated from North Mecklenburg High School and earned a degree in theater from Davidson College in 2003. Helfrich spent close to two decades in education as a teacher and administrator, including service as head of the upper school at Woodlawn School in Mooresville, where Helfrich started a theater program, and was also active as a parent-teacher organization president. Helfrich later managed events and communications for Main Street Books, an independent bookstore in Davidson, and now runs a writing and editing business. Helfrich’s family is involved in Summit Coffee, a Davidson-based coffee company.
In the 2025-2026 session, Helfrich serves on the House committees on Appropriations; Appropriations, Transportation; Higher Education; and Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs. Policy priorities Helfrich has emphasized include access to reproductive health care, including abortion and in vitro fertilization, expanded child care, funding for public schools and measures to reduce gun violence.
