Wesley Bell | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's1st district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Cori Bush |
| Prosecuting Attorney ofSt. Louis County | |
| In office January 1, 2019 – January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Bob McCulloch |
| Succeeded by | Melissa Price Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wesley Jonell-Cleavon Bell (1974-11-05)November 5, 1974 (age 51) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Wesley Jonell-Cleavon Bell[1] (born November 5, 1974)[2][3] is an American attorney and politician serving as theU.S. representative forMissouri's 1st congressional district since 2025. A member of theDemocratic Party, he previously served asprosecuting attorney forSt. Louis County, Missouri, from 2019 to 2025.[4]
In a major upset, he defeated long-time yet controversial county prosecutorBob McCulloch in the August 2018Democratic primary election,[2] and became the first Black county prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County history when he took office in January 2019.[5] On June 7, 2023, Bell announced his candidacy in the2024 United States Senate election in Missouri.[6] In October 2023, he instead opted to run for theU.S. House seat ofMissouri's 1st congressional district, defeating incumbentCori Bush in the Democratic primary in August 2024. Bell's campaign received over $8.5m from pro-Israel lobbying groups such asAIPAC andUnited Democracy Project during the primary election. His opponent was Cori Bush, a member of the "Squad", a group of American politicians who had criticized Israel's actions in theGaza war.[7] He won the general election in November.[8][9][10]
Bell was raised in northern St. Louis County, Missouri. He is the son of a police officer father and civil servant mother. Bell is a graduate ofHazelwood East High School,Lindenwood University, andUniversity of Missouri School of Law.[11]
After graduating from law school, Bell worked as a St. Louis County public defender. He later joined the faculty ofFlorissant Valley Community College as a professor in thecriminology department. Additionally, he also was appointed to be a municipal court judge inVelda City and municipal prosecutor inRiverview. While working as a municipal judge in Velda City, Bell was sued by Arch City Defenders, a local nonprofit, for his role in Velda City's cash bail system.[12]
In 2006, Bell managed the campaign of Mark J. Byrne, a Republican candidate challengingLacy Clay's seat inMissouri's 1st congressional district. Byrne ran on a conservative platform, including strong opposition toabortion. Byrne described Bell's participation in the campaign as a "friendly favor," saying that Bell did his best to help Byrne win despite their different political views.[13]
In 2015, following theFerguson Protests, Bell was elected to Ferguson city council, beating out Lee Smith, a first time candidate popular among Ferguson protestors.[14][15]
In 2018, Bell entered the race for county prosecutor. He ran on a platform ofcommunity based policing, assigningspecial prosecutors in homicides by police, pledging to never seek the death penalty, reforming cash bail/bond, and other progressive points. He received significant support from local and national activists and advocacy groups.[2][5][16] The election was also seen as a referendum on incumbent Bob McCulloch, for his decision not to prosecute the white police officer who shot and killedMichael Brown.[2]
In his first hours in office, Bell ordered his assistant prosecutors not to prosecute marijuana cases under 100 grams without evidence of distribution of the drug; however, he still prosecuted marijuana cases where the person possessing the marijuana is armed with a weapon. His office stopped seeking warrants on cases that solely involve the possession of marijuana.[17] Additionally, during his first days in office Bell elected to stop prosecuting criminal child support cases.[18]
Bell was confronted in 2020 with a case from 2018, in which a resident ofJefferson County, Missouri, killed a woman.[19] There was a major public outcry for Bell to seek[20] the death penalty for accused killer Thomas Bruce, but Bell refused, keeping his campaign promise.[21] Former St. Louis police chief Tim Fitch urged Bell to turn the case over to federal prosecutors so that they could seek the death penalty. However, the family of the victim supported Bell's decision not to seek the death penalty.[22]
Bell reopened the investigation into thekilling of Michael Brown in early 2020, and decided not to file any charges against the white officer. Bell ultimately concluded, like his predecessor Bob McCulloch and theUnited States Department of Justice, that there was not probable cause to criminally charge Darren Wilson.[23] The decision was met with anger from Michael Brown's family who accused Bell of conducting an incomplete investigation.[24] In response to these accusations, Bell stated that his department "relied heavily on the evidence uncovered by the Department of Justice, an investigation that was extraordinarily comprehensive and included interviews of every significant witness and its own forensic examinations." This Obama-era DOJ investigation which Mr. Bell cites concluded, like both Mr. Bell and his predecessor, that the officer should not be held responsible for the death of Michael Brown.
In 2024, Bell asked to vacate the murder conviction of Marcellus Williams on the basis of “clear and convincing evidence” of Williams's innocence. Williams was previously scheduled for execution in 2017, spared by a last minute stay byEric Greitens, who appointed a board of inquiry later dissolved byMike Parson.[25]
Following the ten year commemoration of thekilling of Michael Brown, Bell pressed felony charges on at least eight protestors in Ferguson. A police officer suffered brain injuries following a fall, however protest organizers say that the incident was not caused by the activist charged with assault.[26]
In October 2024, the population of people incarcerated in St. Louis County jail was more than double than in 2022. Bell told a crime commission meeting that they were still working on backlog from COVID-19 and that judges were tired of seeing the same people come into courts.[27]
In late 2024, Bell accused a county councilman ofnepotism due to his step-daughter's temporary position as clerk. Documentation was provided to show that she had not received payment, however Bell further accused her of falsifying documents in a felony charge of forgery. In 2025, the incoming prosecutor dismissed the charges.[28]
On October 29, 2020, Susan Petersen, one of Bell's assistant prosecutors, filed a lawsuit under Missouri's Human Rights Act claiming that Bell had fired her and forced out five other female attorneys in favor of male employees. The lawsuit further alleged that Bell had created a hostile work environment for female attorneys at the office. Bell responded by claiming that the prosecutor's attorney was irresponsibly and unethically attempting to litigate her case in the media.[29]
On June 27, 2024, circuit Judge Bruce F. Hilton ruled that Bell would have to answer deposition questions about sexual relations occurring between a supervisor and multiple subordinates in Bell’s office and denied the county’s motion to delay the Petersen trial.[30] The jury trial was rescheduled for January 27, 2025.[31]
On January 24, 2025, a settlement was reached in the case, with St. Louis County agreeing to pay Petersen $500,000.[32]
Bell was criticized for his use of government resources while in office. In June 2019,KSDK, a local news outlet, reported that Bell had amassed nearly $800 in parking tickets though he was provided with a parking space.[33] In response, Bell's Chief of Staff informed the public that Bell and other staff members needed their cars adjacent to the office and not parked in the sectioned-off parking spaces—over one block away—because Bell, as a prosecuting attorney, needed both him and his agents to have immediate access to their cars in order to best secure justice for the county of which he was responsible. This Chief of Staff further advised that, for Bell and other employees, they could expect up to seven calls a day that would require them to travel to their car, and each of those seven calls would waste taxpayer dollars if they were to park further away from their office. Bell later paid off the parking tickets using his own money.[34]
In October 2019, theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch conducted an investigation into Bell's expenditures during the first ten months in office. The investigation uncovered that Bell had spent over $30,000 in government funds on travel and food during his first ten months in office. This included an $816 dinner at an expensive Miami steakhouse and a $300 meal at aLake of the Ozarks steakhouse. In response, Bell informed the Dispatch that he repaid the Miami dinner immediately and refused to charge his office for any additional expenditures. Bell did not comment on the Ozarks meal directly, but informed the Post-Dispatch that, while he needed to get in the good graces of local law enforcement to perform his duties as prosecutor, Bell recognizes that the meal wasn't a common expense during the previous prosecutor's long tenure. However, Bell noted that he had to simultaneously work with the police and hold them to a higher standard, justifying the expense. Furthermore, thePost-Dispatch also reported on Bell's efforts to hide details of his spending, such as omitting thousands of dollars of charges from requested records, charging thePost to provide requested documents, reimbursing expenditures only after records requests for those expenditures were made, and being nonresponsive tosunshine requests.[35] Under pressure from his supporters, Bell ultimately apologized citing the actions as "missteps" and vowed to spend taxpayer money more appropriately in the future.[36][37]
In 2023, Bell announced a challenge toJosh Hawley for theU.S. Senate, in which he polled higher than fellow Democratic candidateLucas Kunce.[38] In late October 2023, he dropped out from theSenate race to challenge fellow DemocratCori Bush for Missouri's1st congressional district seat.[8] Leaked audio confirmed that Bell previously told Bush he would not run against her.[39] Bell told Bush, "I'm telling you on my word I am not running against you."[40]
Politico reported that the pro-Israel lobbying groupAIPAC earmarked over $800,000 for Bell's campaign as of April 30, 2024.[41] Campaign ads were funded by AIPAC's spending arm,United Democracy Project.[42] By May 2024, Bell had raised more than $65,000 from donors who also gave to one of Missouri’s two Republican senators, Hawley and Eric Schmitt, in their most recent campaigns, and Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, the leading Republican candidate for governor.[43] Bell also received additional support and campaign financing from conservatives and Republicans.[44] In addition, theDemocratic Majority for Israel spent large amounts of money to support his campaign and defeat Bush.[45][46]
On July 25, 2024, theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch, which had previously been critical of Bell, endorsed him.[35][47][48] Bell defeated Bush in the primary and ultimately won the general election.[8][9][10]
Bell visited St. Louis following the2025 St. Louis tornado. He said the storm disaster presented an opportunity to invest in under-served areas, and that he was prepared to file for additional aid if requests were not matched.[49]
In May 2025, Bell criticized cuts toMedicaid.[50]
In June 2025, Bell collaborated withEric Schmitt to make a custom beer in theAnheuser-BuschBrew Across America competition.[51]
During theJune 2025 Los Angeles protests, Bell joined 74 other House Democrats in signing anantisemitism resolution related to the2025 Boulder fire attack which included an expression of "gratitude" forICE. Another resolution on antisemitism circulated at the same time with broader support.[52]
In August 2025, Bell visited St. Louis for constituent gatherings, including a job fair[53] and public town hall. The town hall was disrupted by protesters criticizing his support forIsrael in theGaza war. Security guards were recorded treating attendees roughly, withSLMPD distancing themselves from many of the guards and one guard put on leave from his civilian role.[54]
In September 2025, Bell joined thedischarge petition filed byThomas Massie to demand the release of theEpstein files.
For the119th Congress:[55]
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Bell is a supporter of Israel.[57] He voiced support for Israel in theIran–Israel war.[58]
In July 2025, Bell condemned thestarvation of Palestinian civilians caused by Israel'sblockade of the Gaza Strip, saying: "I’ve always supported Israel’s right to exist and defend itself. That hasn’t changed. But supporting this government’s actions – allowing children to starve and firing on civilians seeking food – is something I can’t stand by. This isn’t self-defense. It must stop."[59]
In August 2025, Bell met with Israeli presidentIsaac Herzog as part of a congressional delegation to Israel with theAmerican Israel Education Foundation.[60]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Wesley Bell | 63,340 | 51.2 | |
| Democratic | Cori Bush (incumbent) | 56,492 | 45.6 | |
| Democratic | Maria Chappelle-Nadal | 3,257 | 2.6 | |
| Democratic | Ron Harshaw | 730 | 0.6 | |
| Total votes | 123,819 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Wesley Bell | 233,312 | 75.9 | |
| Republican | Andrew Jones | 56,453 | 18.4 | |
| Libertarian | Rochelle Riggins | 10,070 | 3.3 | |
| Green | Don Fitz | 5,151 | 1.7 | |
| Better Party | Blake Ashby | 2,279 | 0.7 | |
| Total votes | 307,265 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 1st congressional district 2025–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 375th | Succeeded by |
