Brandon Bell (Virginia politician)
John Brandon Bell II is an American former Virginia state senator and small businessman from Charlottesville. Bell was state senator for two non-consecutive terms, replacing Republican State Senator Malfourd W. Trumbo in an open race over Democratic Party Candidate Stephen H. Emick when Trumbo retired after 3 terms, having first been elected in 1991.
Bell did not continue on to the General Election four years later in 2007, having lost the Republican Party Primary 49-51% to the conservative former Roanoke Mayor Ralph K. Smith, largely due to his proposal of a bill seeking to ban smoking in private businesses throughout the state, a bill which failed, however a watered-down similar bill, sponsored by Senator Ralph Northam, a Democrat from Norfolk, succeeded in banning smoking in private businesses in 2009, Smith was one of 13 senate votes against it.
