Former member of Congress · last served 107th Congress

Jesse Helms

REPUBLICAN U.S. Senator · North CarolinaSenate 1973–2003

Jesse Helms was a Republican U.S. senator from North Carolina, first elected to Congress in 1973, who sponsored 13 bills that became law (100th–107th Congress).

Open full dossier →

470Bills & resolutions sponsored100th–107th Congress (excludes amendments)

65Passed a chamberof 470 bills & resolutions sponsored

13Became law12 substantive + 0 ceremonial + 1 private · 100th–107th Congress

—Broke with partyNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)

—Missed votesNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)

—Pork: own shareFY2024 earmarks: not in office

How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.

Recent votes

No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.

5 most recent bills

S. 1010 A bill to extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project in the State of North Carolina.
Dec 4, 2002 · Became Public Law No: 107-322.
S. 3155 Language Mastery Support Act of 2002
Nov 13, 2002 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (text of measure as introduced: CR S10892-10893)
S. 3004 Rural Community Revitalization and Transition Act
Sep 25, 2002 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
S. 2193 A bill to suspend temporarily the duty on Vanguard 75 WDG.
Apr 17, 2002 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
S. 2192 A bill to suspend temporarily the duty on certain TAED chemicals.
Apr 17, 2002 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Top bills sponsored

Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.

Elections Sen. Helms has won

Sen. Helms has won 4 U.S. Senate elections (1978, 1984, 1990, 1996). Of the contested races, margins ran from 3.9 to 9.0 points.

Democratic winRepublican winseat changed partyunopposed

Elections won4 in the data (1976–2024); losses are not listed

Closest win: 3.9 points1984, NC Senate

Won an open seat or took one from the other party0 of 4 elections (open seat or changed party)

Seat history, North Carolina Senate (class 2)Winners in regular elections, most recent three: Elizabeth Dole (R) 2002 → Kay R. Hagan (D) 2008 → Thom Tillis (R) 2014–2020. The seat is next on the ballot in 2026.

Full election history for this seat →

Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.

Official records on bills this member sponsored

107th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 76 bills sponsored.

Record	Bills	Source
Bills sponsored	76	Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them →
With a CBO cost estimate listed	2	See the 2 →
With a committee report listed	1	See the 1 →
With a Congress.gov note	1	See the 1 →

Evidence

How counted: Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 107th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
Fields: cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
PORKER copy refreshed: October 26, 2026 (nightly)

Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.

Open full dossier →

Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.