Wesley Bell
Wesley Bell, a Democrat who has represented Missouri's 1st congressional district since 2025 and earlier served as St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, seeks reelection in 2026 against Republican Paul Berry.
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- Born
- November 5, 1974
- Birthplace
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Education
- Hazelwood East High School
Lindenwood University
University of Missouri School of Law
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Wesley Bell was born on November 5, 1974, and was raised in northern St. Louis County, Missouri, as the son of a police officer father and a civil servant mother. He graduated from Hazelwood East High School, Lindenwood University and the University of Missouri School of Law.
Career
After law school, Bell worked as a St. Louis County public defender and later joined the criminology faculty of Florissant Valley Community College as a professor. He was also appointed a municipal court judge in Velda City and a municipal prosecutor in Riverview.
Following the Ferguson protests, he won a seat on the Ferguson city council in 2015.
In the August 2018 Democratic primary for St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, he defeated the incumbent, Bob McCulloch, and he went on to hold the office from 2019 to 2025 as the first African-American prosecuting attorney in the county's history.
During his tenure he reopened the investigation into the killing of Michael Brown in 2020 and, in 2024, sought to vacate the murder conviction of Marcellus Williams.
In 2023 Bell announced a challenge to Josh Hawley for the U.S. Senate, then left that race in late October 2023 to challenge fellow Democrat Cori Bush for the 1st district seat. He defeated Bush in the primary and won the general election, taking office in 2025. In the 119th Congress he sits on the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and he belongs to the New Democrat Coalition.
2026 race
Wesley Bell is seeking a second term in the 1st district, which covers the city of St. Louis and much of northern St. Louis County, including Florissant and University City.
In the Democratic primary on August 4, 2026, he again faced former representative Cori Bush and won the rematch with 59.2% of the vote to Bush's 36.9%, with three other candidates sharing the remainder.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, Bell faces Republican Paul Berry, a bail bondsman and perennial candidate, and Libertarian Tom Schmitz, vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Missouri for Ward 4.