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Before he chose to run for the Alabama State Senate, Lance Bell was no stranger in state Senate District 11.
The municipal judge for Ashville, Riverside, Childersburg, Ragland, and Ohatchee, Bell Served as the Chairman of the St. Clair County Republican Party from 2015 to 2021, and is the incumbent GOP chairman for the 3rd U.S. Congressional District GOP.
In an interview with APR earlier this December, Bell said that he always figured that when incumbent State Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, decided to leave state-level politics, he would like to mount a campaign for McClendon’s state senate position.
“I always thought if he retired, that I would like to run for that seat,” Bell said. ” I’ve got a 13-year-old and 10-year-old now, and if not me, who? I’m worried about their future, and I worry about the future of our state, our country, and if I’m not gonna sacrifice to do it, who is?”
During the primaries this May, Bell faced fellow Republican candidate Michael J. Wright, a retired Chaplin with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Bell ultimately claimed the nomination in a lopsided win with 73.0 percent of the total vote, and with no Democratic or Libertarian candidate qualifying to run in the district, he effectively secured his seat in the Alabama state Senate that May.
“I am honored to serve as your next Senator for District 11,” Bell wrote in a Facebook post after his primary victory in May. “My family, friends and supporters have trusted me with the responsibility of this office and I do not take that lightly.”
Bell has an extensive history in law enforcement, working first for the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office and later as an investigator with the St. Clair County DA’s office. In 2012, he was made a partner at the Pell City law firm Trussell, Funderburg, Rea, Bell & Furgerson after working as an attorney in Birmingham.
In 2016, he served as one of the defense attorneys for Mike Hubbard during the former Alabama Speaker of the House’s trial.
Bell believes that more needs to be done to support law enforcement in the state and nation at large.
“We’re in a country where our police officers, our law enforcement community is struggling,” Bell said. “They’re struggling with recruitment; they’re struggling with perception; and we’ve got to support them. We’ve got to give them the tools and the ability to do what they got to do to protect us.”
For the upcoming regular legislative session, Bell said that he does not plan to file any legislation and will use the time to learn the ropes inside the state Senate.
“I think this session is going to be more of a learning session for me to learn what I can do, what I cannot do,” Bell said.
The legislative session is expected to begin this March.
