Helmer served tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Korea; and is a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve.

According to The Cook Political Report, state senator Jennifer Wexton was "the substantial frontrunner", and she ultimately won the primary with 42% of the vote while Helmer garnered 12.5%.

The video, in which Helmer spoofed the film "Top Gun" and sang "You've Lost That Centrist Feeling", garnered mixed reactions.

The race broke Virginia's fundraising record for a House of Delegates election, with Hugo and Helmer raising a combined $3.6 million.

While the article said "We have no reason to assume Mr. Pyon, a retired federal worker and former Army medic, is himself an antisemite," it claimed the mailer "fits a recent pattern among Virginia Republican candidates in this fall's legislative elections.

"[12] In 2023, after redistricting caused Helmer's district to lose its Republican-leaning Prince William County part for areas in the more Democratic-leaning Fairfax County, the district was renumbered from the 40th to the 10th in the process, he sought to maintain his incumbency advantage by falsely claiming to be the incumbent of the newly added redistricted areas in targeted campaign mailers.

[13] Helmer acknowledged the mailers in a statement to the Post, but he did not offer an apology for the confusion, stating that his office is ready to assist people outside his district.

[14] The Loudoun Times-Mirror reported that Helmer indirectly received over $5.4 million from three political action committees (PACs) in support of his run through June 2024.

[15] The VPM Media Corporation noted that Helmer's support of "blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies" infused him with substantial monetary resources and caused the primary to be one of the most expensive in Virginia history.

[16] According to The New York Times, a Democratic Party official, through an anonymous statement from her attorney in June 2024, accused Helmer of "groping her and later making sexually crude remarks.

"[17][18][19] Helmer was accused of grabbing the woman's breast after a political event during his 2018 campaign as he lewdly referred to her body and propositioned her for sex with him and other women while describing the different sexual positions he wanted to try with her.

[17][22] NOW also alleged that Helmer bullied a female colleague into voting down a bill, during a subcommittee hearing, that would have mandated employer-provided training for anti-sexual harassment and anti-discrimination behavior.

[20][21] Helmer refused to drop out, calling the allegations against him "baseless", and claiming that they were trumped-up by his opponent's allies in the final week of the campaign.