After running unopposed in 2007, Republican Delegate Rob Bell will have to return to the campaign trail to retain his seat in the General Assembly. Cynthia Neff, an Albemarle Democrat, will challenge Bell, according to today’s Daily Progress.
Neff moved to Albemarle County in 2006 after retiring as an IBM vice president of human resources. She quickly threw herself into local politics, serving as campaign manager for Marcia Joseph’s unsuccessful Board of Supervisors bid in 2007 and volunteering extensively for the 2008 federal races.
But she’ll have her hands full challenging Bell, whose district includes about half of Albemarle County, all of Greene County, and parts of Orange and Fluvanna counties. Bell first won his seat in 2001, and had $479,000 cash on hand at the end of 2008, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
In 2005, Bell bested Steve Koleszar, an Albemarle School Board member, with 62 percent of the vote. He ran unopposed in 2003.
According to the Progress, Neff will attack Bell—a former prosecutor whose legislative agenda usually features a plate of tough-on-crime bills—for the Assembly’s failure to improve transportation, energy and early education.
Albemarle Supervisor David Slutzky had previously contemplated running against Bell this term, but opted against it in January.
For more on Rob Bell, check out C-VILLE’s cover stories from 2008 and 2004.