In a race that feels more like a family feud than a partisan fight, two progressive Democrats are battling in the May 19 primary to replace Rep. Ken Helm in Oregon House District 27, which covers Beaverton and nearby suburbs. On one side is Tammy Carpenter, a Beaverton school board director with ties to the Democratic Socialists of America. On the other is Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg, a Beaverton city councilor backed by a long roster of established elected officials and labor allies. With no serious Republican in sight, the winner in May is widely expected to be the next state representative for the district.
How the race is shaping up
The contest has turned into one of the more closely watched local primaries, with both candidates running energetic fundraising and outreach operations. Each had collected roughly $90,000 by the time recent coverage hit, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. In a district that leans heavily Democratic, local observers note that the May 19 Democratic primary will almost certainly decide who goes to Salem in November.
Carpenter's pitch: big policy, grassroots reach
Carpenter is running on an unapologetically expansive progressive platform. Her agenda centers on creating a universal health plan, raising taxes on high earners and slowing data-center construction to protect farmland and scarce water supplies. Those themes are front and center in her campaign messaging and public appearances.
Her run has drawn formal backing from the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, as reflected on the endorsement list maintained by Portland DSA. Carpenter is also leaning hard on a classic shoe-leather strategy: her campaign says volunteers have already knocked on thousands of doors, with more mail and digital outreach planned in the final stretch, according to the Tammy Carpenter campaign.
Hartmeier-Prigg's approach: delivery and endorsements
Hartmeier-Prigg, meanwhile, is pitching herself as a get-things-done progressive who can translate ideals into projects that actually materialize. She points to her tenure on the Beaverton City Council, highlighting work to increase investment in affordable housing and to help launch the area's first year-round shelter.
Her endorsements list reads like a who's who of Democratic politics. The Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg campaign cites support from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, several members of Congress, numerous state legislators and a string of local officials. When Helm announced that he would not seek another term, he publicly threw his support behind Hartmeier-Prigg, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Money, unions and where the support comes from
Organized labor and industry groups have not lined up neatly behind a single candidate, which helps explain why the money game looks unusually competitive for such a safe Democratic seat. As detailed by The Oregonian/OregonLive, Carpenter and Hartmeier-Prigg reported similar cash on hand at the time of that reporting.
The union landscape is mixed. Carpenter has drawn support from teacher and public-employee unions, while Hartmeier-Prigg has attracted backing from electricians, trial-lawyer groups and some local construction interests. Add in assorted in-kind help, and the result is a primary where both candidates can credibly claim a base in labor and business circles, even if the exact lineups look very different.
Ground game and voter math
On the ground, Carpenter is betting that raw person-to-person contact can tip a closely matched race. Her campaign says volunteers have knocked on more than 13,000 doors and are planning at least two more rounds of voter outreach as ballots land in mailboxes, according to the Tammy Carpenter campaign. The goal is simple: find every last sympathetic Democrat and make sure they actually vote.
District 27 is solidly Democratic, with registered Democrats significantly outnumbering registered Republicans in the Beaverton suburbs. That is why reporters and election analysts have treated the primary as the de facto general election, a pattern noted in coverage by the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Given the similar fundraising totals and very different political networks behind each candidate, turnout is widely expected to decide which version of progressive politics prevails.
What's next
The primary is set for May 19, 2026, according to the Oregon Secretary of State, with county clerks scheduled to mail ballots in late April. Both campaigns say they plan to keep stepping up door-knocking and targeted mail as voting begins, banking on field work rather than ideological purity alone to carry them over the finish line.
Whoever emerges from the Democratic primary will head into a November contest in a district where Democrats hold a clear registration edge, making the current intraparty showdown the one that really matters.
