About Chris Bell
Throughout his career, Chris Bell has worked to change the status quo – reforming government and improving the lives of Texans.
A true son of the Lone Star State, Chris has lived his whole life in Texas. He was born in Abilene in 1959, the son of a decorated veteran. He grew up in Dallas and attended public schools.
He went to the University of Texas at Austin, earning a journalism degree in 1982 and getting his first taste of politics when he led an effort to restore student government.
After graduating, Chris worked as a television and radio journalist, being named “best radio reporter in the state” by the Texas Associated Press in 1990. He left journalism after receiving his law degree from South Texas College of Law in 1992 and beginning a litigation practice.
Chris began his career in public service after being elected to the Houston City Council in 1997. He quickly earned a reputation as a hardnosed watchdog against fiscal mismanagement and corruption. He helped pass the city’s first property tax rate rollback, fought to curb wasteful spending and sponsored a number of customer service initiatives.
At a time when city government was plagued by questionable practices, Chris took over as chairman of the council’s Ethics Committee and succeeded in passing landmark campaign finance and ethics reform bills.
Under Chris’ leadership, the Ethics Committee limited soft money in municipal elections, required lobbyists to register, and drafted a “revolving door” policy that prevented city employees from cashing in on their insider connections.
Those efforts to make city government more transparent and more accountable drew widespread praise from colleagues and community leaders from all different political backgrounds.
After five years on the Houston City Council, Chris was elected to Congress in November 2002 and quickly earned a reputation as an incredibly effective freshman. He was called a “rising star” in Roll Call, the leading Capitol Hill newspaper.
He served as a senior whip on the Democratic Leadership team, secured millions of dollars for local projects, and served on four standing committees. He also founded and chaired the Port Security Caucus, a bipartisan group of legislators who fought for federal resources to improve security at our nation’s seaports.
Serving in Congress also gave Chris a chance to see firsthand the crippling effect of cynical partisanship. Honest debate was less common than partisan gamesmanship, genuine compromise was virtually unheard of, and the public interest consistently was placed in the backseat behind political interest.
Chris became a prime target of the infamous 2003 Republican redistricting effort in the Texas Legislature, and he was defeated in his bid for re-election after his district was redrawn.
Not content to stand idly by and stomach the violation of laws and abuse of power that accompanied the redistricting effort, Chris filed a landmark ethics complaint against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in June 2004, breaking a seven-year “ethics truce” in Congress.
Four months later, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee responded by unanimously admonishing DeLay, and many believe it was the first step toward his eventual downfall.
Chris has long been a champion for children, having served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Gulf Coast Region and the Houston / Harris County Joint Commission on Children.
He also served on the boards of the Downtown Houston Association and American Diabetes Association and the advisory boards for the Houston Area Parkinson Society and Taping for the Blind, for whom he recorded a weekly radio show for ten years. Chris also was a longtime volunteer at the Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church Way Station, donating time on a weekly basis to cook for and feed the homeless.
Chris and his wife, Alison, along with their two sons, Atlee and Connally, are longtime residents of southwest Houston. The Bells are active members of Christ Church Cathedral Episcopal Church.
