Elizabeth Nicole Helgelien (née Schworak; formerly Halseth, born February 5, 1983) is an American politician. She was a
Republican member of the
Nevada Senate from November 2010 until February 2012. Halseth is the youngest woman ever elected to the
Nevada Legislature.
She unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Nevada Senate in 2018.
She was a candidate in the Republican primary for
Nevada's 3rd congressional district in
2024.
Early life and education
Elizabeth Nicole Schworak was born in
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
in 1983, where she and her four siblings were raised by her single mother Candy. She graduated from
North Salem High School in
Salem, Oregon in 2001.
In 2006, after her husband lost his job and her income working for a tow truck company was insufficient, the couple was forced to file for personal bankruptcy and thereafter moved to Nevada.
She attended
Corban University but did not earn a degree.
Career
Nevada Senate
2010 election
She began her political career running as Elizabeth Halseth in 2010, running for Assembly District 13 in the
Nevada Assembly before leaving the race before the filing deadline to the Nevada Senate's
9th district.
During the primary campaign, Halseth released a telephone recording of her opponent, long-term Republican
Dennis Nolan, pressuring the ex-wife of his friend, Gordon Lawes, who had been sentenced to a ten-years in prison for raping her 16-year old sister, to "tell the truth" about the rape and that it would be "very financially beneficial" if she did.
Nolan admitted to the call but insisted that he "made up" the statement that she would be paid if she told the truth.
After defeating Nolan in the primary, she then went on to defeat millionaire jeweler Benny Yerushalmi who was heavily supported by the Democratic establishment in the
general election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
.
Tenure and resignation
While a Senator, she was a member of the Senate Revenue Committee, Senate Commerce, Labor and Energy Committee, and the Senate Transportation Committee.
She announced her resignation from office on February 17, 2012, citing issues with balancing performance of her senatorial duties with being a single mother. She also wrote in her letter of resignation that she would likely seek employment outside of Nevada due to issues with finding employment.
Her resignation followed criticism that she was missing meetings and not returning telephone calls. Her then-husband Daniel Halseth was later indicted on two felony counts: one of coercion and one of battery; he was also indicted on one misdemeanor count of open and gross lewdness.
Post-Senate career and 2018 election
She moved to Alaska where she worked as a realtor, before ultimately returning to Nevada.
In 2018, she announced that she would run for a vacant seat as Elizabeth Helgelien in the Nevada Senate's
8th district after the incumbent, Independent
Patricia Farley, announced she would retire; she was defeated in the Republican primary by Valerie Weber.
The Democratic candidate,
Marilyn Dondero Loop, would go on to win the seat.
2024 congressional campaign
In March 2023, Helgelien announced that she would run for Congress to represent
Nevada's 3rd congressional district, challenging Democratic incumbent
Susie Lee
Suzanne Marie Lee (née Kelley; born November 7, 1966) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Nevada's Nevada's 3rd congressional district, 3rd congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party ...
.
She was endorsed by Republican Congressman
Matt Gaetz (R-FL). Helgelien placed third in the seven person Republican primary.
Personal life
In 2001, she married Daniel Halseth; they divorced in 2012.
[
In May 2012 after her February resignation from the Senate, she appeared in ''Maxim'''s "Hot 100" photo contest appearing in a bikini]Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
for the murder of Helgelien's ex-husband Daniel Halseth in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
; Halseth was stabbed, dismembered, and then burned in order to cover up the killing. On October 20, 2022, both were sentenced to 22 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to all counts on May 25, 2022.[
Helgelien is Christian.]
References
External links
*
State Senator Elizabeth Helgelien Nevada State Senate District 9 website
Nevada legislative biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helgelien, Elizabeth
1983 births
21st-century American women politicians
Corban University alumni
Living people
North Salem High School (Salem, Oregon) alumni
Politicians from Portland, Oregon
Republican Party Nevada state senators
Women state legislators in Nevada
Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections
21st-century members of the Nevada Legislature