Santa Clara County roles Beall served on the
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors from 1994 until 2006, prior to which he served 14 years on the
San Jose City Council. As a councilman and county supervisor, Beall served two decades on the
California Metropolitan Transportation Commission, where he lobbied commissioners to select the extension of the
Bay Area Rapid Transit system to
San Jose as a top priority project, enabling it to eventually receive $900 million in federal funding. In the spring of 2012, Valley Transportation Authority and BART officials broke ground on the extension. In 2022, Beall ran for the Santa Clara Valley Water District board. Seeing no other candidates filed for District 4, he won unopposed. He also is a commissioner on the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).
District 15 of California Senate In 2011, Beall announced his candidacy for the new District 15 seat of the
California State Senate. He won the June 2012 primary election, finishing more than 11 percent ahead of his opponent, fellow Democrat and former
Assemblyman Joe Coto, and again in the general election in November 2012, defeating Coto 57% to 42%. He officially took the position on December 3, 2012, taking the role from his predecessor
Elaine Alquist (after rezoning). In 2016, Beall was challenged by
Democratic state Assemblywoman Nora Campos, who was prevented from seeking reelection by term limits. Beall won the election by a wide margin. He served in the
California State Senate as a
Democrat representing the
15th Senate District, which encompasses the
South Bay and
Silicon Valley. He was not eligible to seek reelection in 2020 due to term limits. ==Notes==