Patrick Bell

You’ll never hear Patrick Bell brag about his work as Director of New Media for the GOP Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives. But those who work on Capitol Hill know that Bell and his boss, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) are responsible for propelling Republican House members into the digital age.

“Since the 2008 elections, House Republicans have rocketed past their Democratic counterparts,” he said. “The challenge today is to stay several steps ahead.”

Ironically, politics, and especially the social media aspect, was never something he envisioned as a career path.

“In 2001 I never could have imagined one day working on Capitol Hill, let alone helping members of Congress communicate their message online,” he said

In college, Bell found that the Internet gave him a way to connect with other like-minded young conservatives and helped him realize his passion for politics. He worked on several campaigns before he found his niche as Communications Director at the Washington State Republican Party in 2008, where he worked off and on until taking his current job ahead of the 2010 mid-term elections.

“Ten years from now, I think a lot of people will look back at 2012 as a year of incredible change in both politics & technology,” he said, but cautioned that Congress has a long way to go before it fully catches up with the social media wave.

“But with a new generation of conservatives becoming more dedicated to engaging in the digital space,” he said. “I think we’ll be in an even better position in the future.”