John Joseph Bell (born January 29, 1963) is an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bic ...

and a retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

officer. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he currently serves in the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

by representing the 13th district. From 2016 to 2020 he served as a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, representing the 87th District. Both districts are located in

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...

and

Prince William County Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...

Career

Bell served in the

from 1981 to 2007, working as a finance officer and retiring as a Major. From 2016 to 2020, Bell represented the 87th District in the

. In August 2018, Bell announced he would run in 2019 for Virginia State Senate District 13, then represented by Republican Dick Black. Bell's announcement came with endorsements from 14 elected Democrats in Virginia, including state Attorney General

Mark Herring Mark Rankin Herring (born September 25, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he previously served in the Senate of Virginia since a 2006 special election, ...

, House of Delegates Minority Leader

David Toscano David Joseph Toscano (born June 28, 1950) is an American politician and lawyer. Career A Democrat, he served on the Charlottesville, Virginia city council from 1990 to 2002 and was mayor from 1994 to 1996. In November 2005 he was elected to t ...

, and state senator

Jennifer Wexton Jennifer Lynn Wexton (née Tosini; born May 27, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the United States representative for Virginia's 10th congressional district since 2019. The district is anchored in the outer portion of Northe ...

, who was subsequently elected to U.S. Congress. Bell won the election in November 2019, defeating Republican Loudoun County supervisor Geary Higgins in the general election.

Personal life

Bell is married to wife Margaret, who is a local

realtor A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

. They have five children and three grandchildren.

References

1963 births Living people Democratic Party Virginia state senators Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Regis University alumni George Washington University alumni People from Loudoun County, Virginia 21st-century American politicians United States Air Force officers Western New England University alumni {{Virginia-VASenate-stub