John Bell for Virginia

District 13: In what is possibly the state's fastest-growing and most-populous district, Del. Robert G. Marshall has distinguished himself by standing still; he remains the author of off-the-wall legislative antics that even members of his own Republican Party regard as clownish. In addition to making hay with wedge social issues (like trying to outlaw in vitro fertilization), he has also done his best to impede transportation funding proposals that would benefit his own district. An infinitely better choice is John Bell, a sober, sane Democrat who has extensive budgetary expertise from years spent as a finance officer for the Air Force. He would bring practical and managerial expertise to a job that Mr. Marshall has treated as a pulpit for his pet peeves.