Former Rep. Cheri Helt, R-Bend, said Tuesday she is running for Commissioner of Bureau and Labor Industries.

Helt filed for the race on Tuesday, the last day for candidates to get on the May 17 primary ballot.

“I’m really excited about the issues office works on, creating more job opportunities and increasing career and technical training to build a good future for Oregon,” Helt said in a interview Tuesday morning.

A moderate Republican, Helt was elected in 2018 to the House District 54 seat in Bend. She lost in 2020 to now Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend. She and her husband, Steve, are co-owners of the Zyedeco restaurant in downtown Bend.

The officially non-partisan job of labor commissioner has drawn seven candidates, including Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla and Portland attorney Christina Stephenson.

Stephenson has won early labor support and the endorsement of former Gov. Barbara Roberts.

Val Hoyle, the current commissioner, had filed to run for re-election to another four-year term. But she switched to the 4th Congressional District seat after incumbent Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, announced he would not seek re-election. DeFazio has endorsed Hoyle.

The office is one of four executive positions in Oregon, along with the governor, secretary of state and treasurer. The office ensures lawful and fair practices in employment and housing, develops trade skills training and handles complaints on unfair practices and safety. In recent years, the office has had to navigate the shifting definitions of employment that have moved many jobs to the largely unregulated “gig economy” and where technology has blurred the lines between work and home, paid hours and time off.

Under Oregon election rules, since the office is officially non-partisan, a candidate winning more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary is considered elected and does not face a runoff in November. Hoyle won 52% of the vote in the primary in 2018.

Helt was the surprise winner of the 2018 race for the increasingly Democratic-leaning House District 54 in Bend. Bend City Councilor Nathan Boddie was the Democratic nominee, but the party withdrew its support after the primary amid sexual harassment allegations against him. Helt won with 58% of the vote.

While in the House, Helt voted with the Republican caucus on many business, regulation and other issues. But she split with the caucus on some key issues, most notably when she championed mandatory measles vaccines in schools. The legislation passed the House with Democratic support. After often heated public hearings, the bill passed the House. It was killed soon after in a deal between Senate Democrats and Republicans in exchange for the GOP dropping efforts to slow legislation or walk out.

When both Senate and House Republicans walked out during the 2020 session to deny a quorum to do any business as a tactic to stop a proposed carbon pollution cap bill, Helt remained in Salem. In the Senate, Tim Knopp, R-Bend, was the only Republican to remain, though he had taken part in earlier walkouts.

Though she did not support President Donald Trump, the 2020 election drove record Democratic turnout in Deschutes County. Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win more than 50% of the county’s vote since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The Democratic voter registration edge and strong turnout swamped Helt, with Kropf winning 60% of the vote.

Helt has remained involved in legislative issues around housing, education and homeless youth since leaving office. During the 2021 session, she worked with Knopp to secure $3 million in grants for aid to homeless youth.

Helt supported a bipartisan bill in the 2022 session to create pilot programs in seven school districts where the percentage of homeless students is high. Knopp said the bill ran out of time amid a blizzard of over 240 bills that were up for consideration during the 35-day session.

Helt, Knopp and Hoyle co-wrote a February 2020 guest column in The Bend Bulletin advocated for a Senate bill that guaranteed fair housing standards.

“No one should be denied a place to live because of who they are — because of their race, gender or sexual orientation, or because they have kids,” the column said. “Most landlords in our state try to do the right thing, but unfortunately housing discrimination is all too common.”

After redistricting approved in September 2021 put Bend into a competitive district, Helt discussed possibly seeking the Republican nomination. But the closed primary mean that the primary odds favored a pro-Trump candidate such as former Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer or Bend businessman Jimmy Crumpacker.

Helt said running for what is known in political circles as “the BOLI” became a stronger desire as she and her husband, Steve, experienced the strains of the COVID-19 pandemic on both small business owners and workers. The couple’s two restaurants employed 104 people when the state ordered businesses closed in the spring of 2020 as the virus rapidly spread across the state.

The couple quickly took $30,000 out of their personal savings to give employees money for health care coverage at a time when state and federal aid was unknown.

“That was a lot of money for us, but our people were in worse situations, not knowing how to pay for housing, food and medical care,” Helt said.

Helt kept workers on payroll to assist in an outreach program in which Zydeco brought food to health care workers, emergency responders and residents in need. 

The Paycheck Protection Program and small business assistance under congressional and state aid packages helped both the Helts and their workers through the crisis so far.

The lack of business and the departure of some employees to other cities or jobs cut the restaurant’s workforce to 13 people at one point. As COVID-19 cases dropped and statewide rules were modified, Zydeco now has 60 employees. The restaurant opened for lunch for the first time last week. Helt wants to do more hiring.

“We could always find room for great people,” she said.