Don Beyer

Don Beyer
Official portrait, 2023
Chair of the Joint Economic Committee
In office
January 3, 2021 – January 3, 2023
Preceded byMike Lee
Succeeded byMartin Heinrich
Vice Chair of the Joint Economic Committee
In office
January 16, 2020 – February 3, 2021
Preceded byCarolyn Maloney
Succeeded byMartin Heinrich
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 8th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded byJim Moran
United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein
In office
September 8, 2009 – May 29, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byPeter Coneway
Succeeded bySuzan G. LeVine
36th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
In office
January 13, 1990 – January 17, 1998
GovernorDouglas Wilder
George Allen
Preceded byDouglas Wilder
Succeeded byJohn Hager
Personal details
Born
Donald Sternoff Beyer Jr.

(1950-06-20) June 20, 1950 (age 74)
Trieste, Free Territory of Trieste (now Italy)
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Carolyn McInerney
(m. 1972; div. 1986)
(m. 1987)
Children4
EducationWilliams College (BA)
George Mason University
WebsiteHouse website

Donald Sternoff Beyer Jr. (/ˈb.ər/ BY-ər; born June 20, 1950) is an American businessman, diplomat, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 8th congressional district since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, his district is in the heart of Northern Virginia and includes Alexandria, Falls Church, and Arlington.

Beyer has owned automobile dealerships in Virginia and has a long record of involvement in community and philanthropic work. From 1990 to 1998, he served two terms as the 36th lieutenant governor of Virginia during the gubernatorial administrations of Doug Wilder (1990–1994) and George Allen (1994–1998). His party's nominee for governor of Virginia in 1997, he lost to Republican Jim Gilmore, who was then the Attorney General of Virginia. From 2009 to 2013, he served as United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein under President Barack Obama.[1]

In 2014, Beyer announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives seat for Virginia's 8th congressional district held by the retiring Jim Moran. Beyer won the 12-candidate Democratic primary in June with 45% of the vote and went on to win the general election 63% to 33%. He has since been reelected four times, most recently in 2022.

  1. ^ End of term reflections with U.S. Ambassador Beyer, World Radio Switzerland, May 27, 2013.