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City of Hampton
Anton A. Bell
Commonwealth's Attorney
Democrat
RESOLUTE Citizen Score
83
/ 100
B
Raw: 10 of 12 dynamic max
· 6 of 30 answered
Local tier30 of 50 rubric questions apply at this office level — federal-only questions are marked N/A and excluded from the dynamic max. How tier grading works →
Last verified: · scorecard-level timestamp
✝ God First
10/ 70
🏛️ Local First
0/ 30
National Rank
#4,641 of 8,776 · bottom 47.1% among candidates with at least one scored answer
See the full rankings →Contact This Official
Reach out directly. Your voice matters. Proverbs 29:2 — When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.
Official Profile
Religion: Ordained minister at Calvary Revival Church (Hampton); serves with wife Dr. Dawn Yvette Bell in youth ministries
Education: Norfolk Catholic High School; B.A. Political Science, Norfolk State University; J.D. (with Honors), North Carolina Central School of Law
Background: Anton A. Bell; first African-American elected Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney. Career career prosecutor — handled violent crimes, homicides, and child molestation in Hampton; served as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (E.D. Va.) on the Peninsula Drug Task Force. Appointed CA 2012 after retirement of Linda Curtis; won the 2012 special election and was re-elected in 2013, 2017 (over Nicholas Hobbs), 2021 (unopposed), and 2023 (unopposed); current term Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2027; next election November 2027. Currently serving as Immediate Past President of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys (VACA), 2025–26. Married to Dr. Dawn Yvette Bell.
Serving since 2012 (appointed, then won special election). Running unopposed for 4th term. B.A. Norfolk State, J.D. NC Central. Immediate Past President of VA Assoc. of Commonwealth's Attorneys.
[2026-06 RESOLUTE refinement] Roster verified: sitting Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney since 2012; re-elected unopposed 2021 and 2023; current term Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2027; next election Nov 2027. Currently VACA Immediate Past President 2025-26. CROSS-PRESSURED PROFILE — do not flatten. (A) Bell is a founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (VPPFJ, formed July 2020 with 10 other VA CAs including Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj) and signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the General Assembly endorsing decarceration-oriented reforms (mandatory-minimum repeal, expanded expungement); Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 endorsed him as the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — public_justice q1 FALSE (coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums archetype the rubric singles out). (B) AT THE SAME TIME he is an ordained Calvary Revival Church minister who invoked the Sixth Commandment ('Thou shalt not kill') in court argument during the Bigsby (Codi Bigsby) sentencing and publicly rejected mercy, seeking the maximum sentence — public_justice q4 TRUE (magistrate's God-ordained sword-bearing duty publicly affirmed in explicit biblical-magistrate terms — a rare and significant single data point) AND public_justice q3 TRUE (explicitly refused to frame violent crime in public-health terms; sought max sentence). (C) Office partners visibly with Hampton PD on violent crime, gang, and gun prosecution; bio describes him as a hard prosecutor; no Soros / Justice & Public Safety PAC / Real Justice PAC funding has been located (VPAP shows locally-funded committee) — public_justice q0 TRUE (affirmative pro-LE record meeting the bar without being the Soros archetype). (D) Office runs a victim-services FAQ and Bell explicitly argued for mercy to the victim's family at Bigsby sentencing — public_justice q2 TRUE. (E) Open public Christian profession from his elected-office platform (Sixth Commandment in open court, ordained minister bio on city site) — christian_liberty q0 TRUE. NOT a Soros-funded DA. Bolts noted Bell gave 'a more qualified answer than his colleagues' on parole reinstatement — i.e., he's the most cautious of the 11 VPPFJ members. DID NOT sign the 2022 FJP post-Dobbs abortion-non-prosecution joint statement (no VA prosecutor signed it). NO EVIDENCE FOUND on sanctity_of_life (Catholic high school + ordained Calvary Revival minister biography suggests possible personal pro-life lean but no public position statement located — null per evidence rule), biblical_marriage (bio describes 'Husband, dad, servant leader' but no marriage/sexuality policy statements), family_child_sovereignty (publicly identifies family breakdown as a primary crime driver, but that does NOT map to universal school choice / parental notification / CRT — null), christian_liberty q2/q3/q4 (open public profession yes, but no specific conscience-rights / Christian-symbols / non-Christian-display statements), economic_stewardship, election_integrity, refuse_state_overreach, border_immigration (Hampton city formally cooperates with ICE and rejected the sanctuary label in 2025 but that was Mayor Gray's statement, not Bell's — no individual position located), self_defense (hard on illegal gun violence but no defensive-firearm-owner statements).
Category Breakdown
Candidate affirms life begins at conception and personhood from conception
Not yet verified
Candidate (if District Attorney) has committed to prosecuting illegal abortion procedures; (if mayor/council) has supported pro-life city resolutions or refused to declare 'sanctuary city for abortion'
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes embryonic stem-cell research, IVF embryo discard, and chimeric experimentation
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and quality-of-life rationing
N/A · out of tier
Candidate has never accepted Planned Parenthood, NARAL, EMILY's List, or abortion-industry PAC funding
N/A · out of tier
Candidate affirms marriage as exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one woman as instituted by God
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes all forms of same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in law
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes city/county trans-affirming policies (bathroom mandates on private businesses, Pride flag raisings at city hall, pronouns-required HR rules)
Not yet verified
Candidate supports no-fault divorce reform and policies that strengthen the marriage covenant
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes city/county Pride proclamations, Pride flags at city facilities, drag programming in libraries, and LGBT-affirming K-12 curriculum (school-board-relevant)
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) opts the district into school-choice transfers + protects homeschool freedom + opposes truancy-based criminal referrals
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) requires parental notification before any gender/sexuality counseling of minors; (mayor/council) opposes city programs facilitating minor medical procedures without parents
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) has voted to remove CRT/SOGI/comprehensive-sex-ed/gender-ideology materials from district curriculum and library shelves
Not yet verified
Candidate (mayor/council/library board) supports local enforcement of age-verification + removes sexualized content from library children's sections
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports faith-based adoption/foster agencies and opposes placement of children with same-sex couples
N/A · out of tier
Candidate affirms the right to publicly profess Christ in all spheres (workplace, military, public office, schools)
Candidate supports conscience exemptions for Christian medical professionals, business owners, adoption agencies, and educators
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city/county/school board) opposes mandatory pronoun policies for staff + employees + students
Not yet verified
Candidate (mayor/council) supports city/county Christian displays (Ten Commandments, Nativity scenes), invocation prayer at meetings, Sunday-closure where chosen by community
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes city-funded non-Christian religious displays/programming (Ramadan illumination, etc.) at city facilities
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/county) opposes city participation in CBDC pilot programs + supports cash-acceptance ordinances for local businesses
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports sound-money policies including gold/silver as constitutional money and audit/abolition of the Federal Reserve
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (mayor/council) has voted against deficit-bond issuances for non-capital city expenditures + supports balanced city budgets without service cuts via tax increases on residents
Not yet verified
Candidate supports usury limits, anti-debt-slavery protections, and tithe-friendly tax structures
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city/county) has voted to remove city pension/treasury investment in ESG-aligned funds + opposes city participation in WEF-aligned sister-city programs
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city clerk/county election official) supports hand-counted paper ballots at local precincts where state law permits
Not yet verified
Candidate (city clerk/election official) enforces state photo voter ID + citizenship verification at local precincts
Not yet verified
Candidate supports single-day in-person voting with absentee only for verified medical/military exceptions
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes mass mail-in voting, drop boxes, and ballot harvesting
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city clerk/council) refused acceptance of private election-administration grants ('Zuckerbucks')
Not yet verified
Candidate supports completed physical border barrier and active military border presence
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (DA/sheriff) cooperates with ICE detainers + transfers; (mayor/council) supports local cooperation with ICE rather than sanctuary policies
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/county) has voted against local sanctuary-city ordinances + supports city cooperation with federal immigration enforcement
Not yet verified
Candidate supports mandatory E-Verify for all employment and benefit eligibility
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens, tourist births, and opposes foreign ownership of U.S. farmland
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (mayor/council) opposes local gun-registry ordinances + local gun-shop zoning restrictions
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/council) opposes local-ordinance red-flag/magazine/AWB analogs + local gun-shop zoning restrictions
Not yet verified
Candidate supports repeal of the National Firearms Act (NFA), Gun Control Act (GCA), and other federal gun regulations
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports castle doctrine and stand-your-ground laws with full civil immunity for lawful defense
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes ATF overreach, citizen disarmament initiatives, and U.N. small-arms treaty participation
N/A · out of tier
Candidate has publicly backed law enforcement and opposed defunding/dismantling police
Candidate opposes cashless-bail, soft-on-crime, and rogue-prosecutor (e.g. Soros-DA) policy
Candidate refuses to treat violent crime as a "public health" excuse to avoid punishment
Candidate affirms the magistrate's God-ordained duty to bear the sword (Rom. 13:4)
TRUE (+2)[1]
Official has asserted local control against unconstitutional state mandates
Not yet verified
Official has declined state strings that compel ungodly or unconstitutional local policy
Not yet verified
Official has protected local citizens from state overreach (lockdowns, mandates, ESG)
Not yet verified
Official affirms subsidiarity — decisions made at the lowest competent level
Not yet verified
Official has refused to enforce unconstitutional state directives
Not yet verified
Sources & Evidence
1 Left1 Lean Left1 Center3 Official1 Reference4 Other
Ballotpedia ProfileCenter
Progressive Voters GuideLeft Advocacy
www.vaprosecutors.org/council-and-board-membersUnclassified
www.hampton.gov/3739Official
Bias ratings sourced from AllSides and Ad Fontes Media. Classifications for government, reference, and advocacy domains are maintained by U.S.M.C. Ministries; see source_bias.json.
References & footnotes
Every answer above with a [n] marker corresponds to one of the footnotes below. Wayback-archive links preserve the page as it read at our access date so a reader can verify the citation even if the original URL changes or disappears.
- [1]Ordained Calvary Revival Church minister; publicly invoked the Sixth Commandment ('Thou shalt not kill') in court argument during the Bigsby sentencing, framing his prosecutorial role in explicit biblical terms — affirmative public profession of Christ from elected office. Unclassified
Ordained Calvary Revival Church minister; publicly invoked the Sixth Commandment ('Thou shalt not kill') in court argument during the Bigsby sentencing, framing his prosecutorial role in explicit biblical terms — affirmative public profession of Christ from elected office.
- [2]Ordained Calvary Revival Church minister; publicly invoked the Sixth Commandment ('Thou shalt not kill') in court argument during the Bigsby sentencing, framing his prosecutorial role in explicit biblical terms — affirmative public profession of Christ from elected office. Official
Ordained Calvary Revival Church minister; publicly invoked the Sixth Commandment ('Thou shalt not kill') in court argument during the Bigsby sentencing, framing his prosecutorial role in explicit biblical terms — affirmative public profession of Christ from elected office.
- [3]Office partners with Hampton PD on violent-crime, gang, and gun prosecution; career prosecutor of homicides, child molestation, and Peninsula Drug Task Force narcotics cases (SAUSA, E.D. Va.); no documented soft-on-LE position. Affirmative pro-LE record meeting the bar. Unclassified
Office partners with Hampton PD on violent-crime, gang, and gun prosecution; career prosecutor of homicides, child molestation, and Peninsula Drug Task Force narcotics cases (SAUSA, E.D. Va.); no documented soft-on-LE position. Affirmative pro-LE record meeting the bar.
- [4]Founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (formed July 2020 with Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj et al.); signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the VA General Assembly endorsing mandatory-minimum repeal and expanded expungement; Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 named him the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums policy archetype the rubric singles out. Note: not Soros-funded and more cautious than his VPPFJ colleagues. Left Advocacy
Founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (formed July 2020 with Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj et al.); signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the VA General Assembly endorsing mandatory-minimum repeal and expanded expungement; Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 named him the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums policy archetype the rubric singles out. Note: not Soros-funded and more cautious than his VPPFJ colleagues.
- [5]Founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (formed July 2020 with Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj et al.); signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the VA General Assembly endorsing mandatory-minimum repeal and expanded expungement; Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 named him the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums policy archetype the rubric singles out. Note: not Soros-funded and more cautious than his VPPFJ colleagues. Unclassified
Founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (formed July 2020 with Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj et al.); signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the VA General Assembly endorsing mandatory-minimum repeal and expanded expungement; Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 named him the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums policy archetype the rubric singles out. Note: not Soros-funded and more cautious than his VPPFJ colleagues.
- [6]Founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (formed July 2020 with Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj et al.); signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the VA General Assembly endorsing mandatory-minimum repeal and expanded expungement; Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 named him the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums policy archetype the rubric singles out. Note: not Soros-funded and more cautious than his VPPFJ colleagues. Official
Founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (formed July 2020 with Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj et al.); signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the VA General Assembly endorsing mandatory-minimum repeal and expanded expungement; Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 named him the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums policy archetype the rubric singles out. Note: not Soros-funded and more cautious than his VPPFJ colleagues.
- [7]Founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (formed July 2020 with Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj et al.); signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the VA General Assembly endorsing mandatory-minimum repeal and expanded expungement; Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 named him the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums policy archetype the rubric singles out. Note: not Soros-funded and more cautious than his VPPFJ colleagues. Lean Left
Founding member of Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice (formed July 2020 with Descano, Dehghani-Tafti, Biberaj et al.); signed the March 8, 2021 VPPFJ letter to the VA General Assembly endorsing mandatory-minimum repeal and expanded expungement; Progressive Voters Guide of Virginia 2021 named him the 'progressive choice... due to his support of criminal reform and police accountability' — coalitional alignment with the rogue-prosecutor / soft-on-mandatory-minimums policy archetype the rubric singles out. Note: not Soros-funded and more cautious than his VPPFJ colleagues.
- [8]Office maintains a victim-services FAQ on hampton.gov/3739; at Bigsby sentencing Bell explicitly argued for mercy to the victim's family and sought the maximum sentence — direct victim-advocacy + proportional-punishment posture. Official
Office maintains a victim-services FAQ on hampton.gov/3739; at Bigsby sentencing Bell explicitly argued for mercy to the victim's family and sought the maximum sentence — direct victim-advocacy + proportional-punishment posture.
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