Julian Bell

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Julian Bell

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 17, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Cornell University, 1995

Medical

New York Medical College, 2000

Personal

Profession

Medical director

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Julian Bell (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Oregon. He lost in the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.

Bell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Bell was a 2016 Democratic candidate for governor of Oregon. He was defeated in the primary by incumbent governor Kate Brown.

Biography

Julian Bell was born in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. He earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1995 and an M.D. from the New York Medical College in 2000. His career experience includes working as the medical director of the pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine department at Providence Medical Group South in Medford, Oregon. He has been affiliated with PrimeCare, a physician credentialing organization.

Elections

2022

See also: Oregon gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Oregon

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Oregon on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tina Kotek (D / Working Families Party)	47.0	917,074
		Christine Drazan (R)	43.5	850,347
		Betsy Johnson (Independent)	8.6	168,431
		Donice Smith (Constitution Party)	0.4	8,051
		R. Leon Noble (L)	0.4	6,867
		Paul Romero (Constitution Party of Oregon) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	2,113

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,952,883
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Nathalie Paravicini (Pacific Green Party / Progressive Party)
• Tom Cox (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Oregon

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Oregon on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tina Kotek	56.0	275,301
		Tobias Read	31.7	156,017
		Patrick Starnes	2.1	10,524
		George Carrillo	1.9	9,365
		Michael Trimble	1.0	5,000
		John Sweeney	0.9	4,193
		Julian Bell	0.8	3,926
		Wilson Bright	0.5	2,316
		Dave Stauffer	0.5	2,302
		Ifeanyichukwu Diru	0.4	1,780
	Submit photo	Keisha Merchant	0.4	1,755
	Submit photo	Genevieve Wilson	0.3	1,588
		Michael Cross	0.3	1,342
	Submit photo	David Beem	0.3	1,308
		Peter Hall	0.2	982
		Other/Write-in votes	2.8	13,746

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 491,445
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Peter Winter (D)
• Casey Kulla (D)
• Nicholas Kristof (D)
• Dave Lavinsky (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Oregon

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Oregon on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Christine Drazan	22.5	85,255
		Bob Tiernan	17.5	66,089
		Stan Pulliam	10.9	41,123
		Bridget Barton	10.8	40,886
		Bud Pierce	8.7	32,965
		Marc Thielman	7.9	30,076
		Kerry McQuisten	7.6	28,727
	Submit photo	Bill Sizemore	3.5	13,261
		Jessica Gomez	2.6	9,970
		Tim McCloud	1.2	4,400
		Nick Hess	1.1	4,287
		Court Boice	1.1	4,040
		Brandon Merritt	1.0	3,615
	Submit photo	Reed Christensen	0.8	3,082
		Amber Richardson	0.5	1,924
		Raymond Baldwin	0.1	459
		David Burch	0.1	406
	Submit photo	John Presco	0.0	174
		Stefan Strek	0.0	171
		Other/Write-in votes	2.0	7,407

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 378,317
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Darin Harbick (R)
• John Fosdick III (R)
• Jim Huggins (R)

2018

See also: Oregon State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Oregon State Senate District 3

Jeff Golden defeated Jessica Gomez in the general election for Oregon State Senate District 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff Golden (D)	55.2	35,834
		Jessica Gomez (R)	44.7	29,065
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	75

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 64,974
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Oregon State Senate District 3

Jeff Golden defeated Athena Goldberg, Julian Bell, and Kevin Stine in the Democratic primary for Oregon State Senate District 3 on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff Golden	51.5	8,385
	Submit photo	Athena Goldberg	36.5	5,946
		Julian Bell	6.4	1,048
		Kevin Stine	5.6	910

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 16,289
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Oregon State Senate District 3

Jessica Gomez defeated Curt Ankerberg in the Republican primary for Oregon State Senate District 3 on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jessica Gomez	52.3	5,626
	Submit photo	Curt Ankerberg	47.7	5,125

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 10,751
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Oregon gubernatorial special election, 2016

Bell was defeated in the Democratic primary for governor of Oregon in the 2016 special election to complete the term of Governor John Kitzhaber (D), who resigned in February 2015 and was replaced by Kate Brown (D). In addition to Bell and Brown, four other candidates had filed to run for governor in the Democratic Party primary in 2016.

Results

Primary results

 

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for governor.

Democratic primary for governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kate Brown Incumbent	83.96%	403,730
Julian Bell	7.04%	33,872
Dave Stauffer	2.83%	13,624
Steve Johnson	2.36%	11,366
Kevin M. Forsythe	1.79%	8,599
Chet Chance	0.95%	4,584
Write-in votes	1.06%	5,077
Total Votes		480,852
Source: http://oregonvotes.gov/results/2016P/1314035914.html

Campaign themes

2022

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released April 6, 2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Julian Bell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a father with little children, a physician who takes care of the sickest patients in my hospital, and a voter who is afraid that we are about to miss our last opportunity to do anything about the upcoming climate disaster. In my job we do not watch when something is going wrong, we intervene and try to fix the problem. At this time in the political arena, this means building a better future for voters.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• The climate crisis requires leaders who will not simply continue legacy ideas. Voters need to think carefully about picking a new direction.
• We do not have 4 years to waste. Oregon can't fix the climate crisis alone, but that doesn't mean we don't have to do all we can do.
• Voters need the state of Oregon to provide relief from housing and health care costs, and also need help from the state of Oregon to decarbonize.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Climate change, housing and health care. Other important issues in Oregon are campaign finance reform and better delivery of state services to voters.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Tom McCall. A Republican who was an environmentalist and an advocate for the voters of Oregon.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Yes; 'Delicious Poison: From High Carbon to Electrify Everything" - my book. Another good one is Thomas Frank's 'Listen Liberal'.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

A focus on the immediate and future needs of voters.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am hard working, running an ICU, a practice, and a campaign for governor, in addition to having a family. A good medical doctor is able to process large amounts of information and produce a plan, to have a quick mind attentive to changing circumstances, and a good ability to communicate with people in difficult circumstances. All good qualities for a leader of a large group of people of diverse backgrounds.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To protect the safety and health of voters, and to maintain the economic and environmental health of the state.

What legacy would you like to leave?

A path to a better future.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. I was working in Manhattan at the time. I was 39.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked at McDonald's as a cashier for about 4 months.

What is your favorite book? Why?

There are so many. Maybe Cathy Shaw's 'The Campaign Manager'. A pathway to a better future.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

'This song's going to get stuck inside your head' from the Lego Movie.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I have always been lucky. I have always found ways to succeed despite sometimes long odds. I have worked hard all my life (as have most other people), but I have always found success with persistence. I don't know if I have had a difficult struggle.

A governor is the top executive authority in his or her state. What does that mean do you?

The governor is the leader of the state. This means that they set the direction and they know what the right direction is because they spend a lot of time communicating with voters of Oregon to ensure that the legislature is representing the wishes of the people and doing the work of the people to make Oregon a better place for the people.

Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?

Customer service. At this time in Oregon the state's customers - voters - desperately need affordable housing, less expensive healthcare and for their leaders to work very hard to avert the worst of the predicted damage from changes in our climate. They really need these things. These might sound like good ideas for a campaign, but this is real. People really need these things and they need them now, not in 4 years. For this we will have to use sound economic principles, with a focus on the needs of ordinary people to come up with innovative and collaborative solutions that do not leave anyone out. We can do this.

Different states require governors to have different degrees of responsibility for the state budgeting process. If it were your choice, what do you believe is the appropriate degree of gubernatorial involvement with this process in your state?

The governor is the executive of the state. They rely on the state departments for information, and elected leaders for additional planning and direction, and they need to be in close contact with their customer base, the voters. But since they are responsible for determining the direction of the state, and since moving in this direction depends on having the resources to get there, the governor should have a lot of involvement in the budgeting process.

In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?

I would use this power to ensure we maintain focus on our goals. 4 years is not a lot of time to achieve the kinds of changes we need. We will have to be very attentive to completing our tasks.

If the governor's office in your state does not have the line-item veto power, do you believe it should? Why or why not?

Oregon does.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Collegial and collaborative. The legislature is an elected body and represents the wishes of the voters.

What do you love most about your state?

We have the right ideas, we have the right people and we have a beautiful state to live in and thanks to the foresight of our previous leaders, it remains a fantastic place to live.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Without doubt, climate change. Other major challenges are providing adequate housing for Oregonians, and working hard to make health care more affordable.

Tell us your favorite joke.

What did the custodian say when he jumped out of the closet? ....................... Supplies!

Under what circumstances should the governor of your state be able to use emergency powers?

When the legislature is not able to produce legislation rapidly enough to address urgent circumstances.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys

Julian Bell participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on April 5, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Julian Bell's responses follow below.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

“

1) establishing an independent taxpayer backed public development bank. 2) Building clean energy infrastructure 3) Single payer health insurance

”

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

“

Economic development, jobs, clean energy infrastructure, affordable housing, and a practical mechanism for achieving these goals. This means a state bank or a publicly funded state chartered infrastructure development bank based on the state bank of North Dakota.

”

Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Julian Bell answered the following:

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

“

Books: Listen Liberal by T. Frank The Birth of Plenty by W.J. Bernstein The Healing of America by T.E. Reid Democracy in Chains by N. MacLean The Public Bank Solution by E. Brown The Intelligent Investor by B. Graham

”

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

“

Commitment to providing value to the voters and taxpayers, a dedication to obtaining quality information mostly or completely based on published scientific research, sound financial strategies.

”

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

“

The qualities described above.

”

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

“

Providing affordable health care, affordable housing and economic opportunity to voters and taxpayers of Oregon and their families. Working to transition our state, America, and the rest of the planet to a clean energy economy.

”

What legacy would you like to leave?

“

Economic development in the public interest, a state bank or equivalent, single payer health care, affordable housing, a net carbon zero or net carbon negative clean energy economy.

”

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

“

I worked as a cashier at McDonald's at the age of 16. I worked there for 2 months if I recall correctly. Then I worked as a dishwasher, then a prep cook and subsequently went to medical school and became an intensive care specialist.

”

What is your favorite holiday? Why?

“

Martin Luther King day. I have tremendous respect for Martin Luther King. He knew he risked sacrificing his life and he still stood up in front of the public and worked hard all the time to make the world a better place.

”

Do you believe that it's beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

“

I think voters should be given the option of a new candidate with new ideas at each election. If the incumbent served them well, the incumbent would be re-elected. If not, politics would move in a new direction.

”

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

“

We do not currently have the funding to capitalize the critical infrastructure investments our state needs to develop its economy, build prosperity for Oregonians and move to a clean energy economy.

”

Do you believe it's beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

“

Yes of course. It's beneficial to build relationships with anyone and everyone.

”

What process do you favor for redistricting?

“

An independent non-partisan electoral commission to draw district boundaries based on an algorithm that maximizes the equality of all votes.

”

If you are not currently a member of your party's leadership in the legislature, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

“

Yes. Any role.

”

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you've heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

“

I took care of a patient in the emergency department. He was 58 years old and was homeless, had advanced emphysema and was a methamphetamine user. He had sought care at the for profit hospital in our city, but had been turned away and his shortness of breath was attributed to his emphysema. When I met him I was expecting a difficult-to-work-with character who had made many bad decisions. He was, instead, one of the most straightforward and pleasant patients I have taken care of. He was working quite hard to breathe when I saw him even though he was lying semi-upright on a hospital bed. He had been a construction worker for most of his life, then a janitor, and then a truck driver as his breathing got worse and worse and limited him more and more. He lost all the jobs because he couldn't breathe. He became addicted to meth because it improved his stamina and helped him work more. As he lost his jobs and became more limited by shortness of breath he began smoking more and more. When I saw him he was unable to walk across a room. I obtained an ultrasound of his heart - a simple and standard part of an evaluation for shortness of breath, and I found that he had a bicuspid aortic valve and critical aortic stenosis. A critical heart valve was nearly sealed shut. This problem had an quick and effective surgical fix. Three days in the hospital and he could have been a normal productive part of society. But due to his lack of health insurance and prejudice toward his social circumstances, this hardworking and very pleasant man had not had the medical care he needed and it very nearly destroyed his life. "Single payer" health insurance which works great in nearly all modern capitalist democracies except ours - delivers better health care to more people for less money than ours.

”

2016

Bell told Eugene Weekly that Governor Brown has been too quiet on environmental issues.

His campaign website also featured the topic prominently:

“	Julian decided to run for governor in July of 2016 because he believed that a smart and clean energy economy was the best path to a prosperous future for Oregon. He believed that clean energy would create jobs for ordinary Oregonians, and would generate investment in small communities. He believed that clean energy was the only path to a healthy climate. Because our current Governor appears unaware of the benefits of clean energy or the consequences of greenhouse gas pollution, or any of the details of the most significant issue of our time, Julian felt that someone else needed to offer Oregon a way to move the state into the future.	”

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