Meet Don
Congressman Don Beyer is serving his sixth term as the U.S. Representative from Virginia’s 8th District, representing Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County. Don is the Senior House Democrat on Congress’s Joint Economic Committee, and serves on the essential House Committee on Ways and Means, which holds jurisdiction over key matters including health care, trade, tax policy, Social Security, and Medicare. He is a member of the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, founder of the bipartisan Fusion Energy Caucus, and co-chair of the bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Caucus.
From 1990 to 1998, Don served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, where his signature work included advocacy for Virginians with disabilities and ensuring protections for Virginia’s most vulnerable populations as the Commonwealth reformed its welfare system. He was also Virginia’s Democratic nominee for Governor in 1997. After leaving office, Don served in a variety of leadership roles. He spent 15 years as chair of Jobs for Virginia Graduates, a highly successful high school dropout prevention program.
He was also active for a decade on the board of the DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. As chair of the Virginia Economic Recovery Commission, he helped pass permanent pro-business reforms and was co-founder of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. Don was the founding chair of Alexandria Community Trust (ACT), where he served in leadership for five years.
For four decades, Don helped build his family’s business in Northern Virginia following a summer job at the dealership in 1974. He sold the business in 2019. Don, born in the Free Territory of Trieste, is the son of U.S. Army officer Donald Sternoff Beyer Sr., and his wife, Nancy McDonald. His grandmother, Clara Mortenson Beyer, was a pioneer in labor economics and workers’ rights and instrumental in implementing minimum wage legislation via the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Don’s grandfather, Otto S. Beyer Jr., was Chairman of the National Mediation Board.
Don is a graduate of Williams College and of Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC. He was named a Presidential Scholar by President Lyndon Johnson. Don has four children and two grandchildren. He and his wife, Megan, live in Alexandria, Virginia.
