Ben Cline

In November 2017, Cline announced he would run for Congress in Virginia's 6th congressional district in 2018 for the seat being vacated by the retiring incumbent Bob Goodlatte. On May 19, 2018, Cline won the Republican Party nomination for that election on the first ballot at the district convention.

Cline won the election on November 6, 2018, winning 15 Virginia localities with more than 60% of the vote, to the four localities won by his opponent, Jennifer Lewis. (Lewis won Harrisonburg, Lexington, Roanoke and Staunton, but lost all the rest, including a razor's edge loss in her hometown of Waynesboro.) He resigned from the Virginia House of Delegates on December 18, 2018.

As described by Amy Friedenberger of The Roanoke Times, Cline established himself in his 16 years in the Virginia House of Delegates "as a conservative who opposes abortion rights and seeks to protect gun rights... [who said] he would take his fiscal conservatism to Washington." As described by the Staunton News Leader, a USA Today newspaper in Cline's district, candidate Cline's House campaign website detailed "his record of supporting conservative legislation in the [Virginia] House of Delegates... [where he] voted against a tax increase, helped make budget cuts to the state's 'bloated bureaucracy,' and sponsored legislation that would ban sanctuary cities". At his election victory celebration, Representative-elect Cline stated to his assembled supporters that "Being part of the checks and balances that our Founding Fathers envisioned is a responsibility that I will guard seriously." In an interview as he arrived for his swearing in at the House, Cline described to a Staunton, Virginia news reporter his 6th district as having 800,000 constituents in "19 cities and counties... each one [with] different character and different political affiliations".

After graduating from law school, he served as an assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for Rockingham County and the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia until 2013.

Cline has been described by Carmen Forman of The Roanoke Times as being "staunchly anti-abortion." In 2007 and subsequent years, Cline has introduced legislation which requires that information regarding the option of providing anesthesia to the baby be given to women seeking abortions after 20 weeks and required doctors to do so if requested by the mother.

In 2006, Cline patroned HB1125, which created a school sales tax holiday in the Commonwealth, and HB1135, which allowed for members of the military stationed in the Commonwealth to receive in-state tuition in Virginia. In 2007, he patroned HB2168, which created the Community College Transfer Grant Program. In 2008, Cline supported the opening of an Amherst branch of Central Virginia Community College and new facilities for the Rockbridge branch of Dabney S. Lancaster Community College. In 2009, Cline patroned, but did not have included in the final state budget, amendments that looked to cut the budget of the Virginia Lottery in half, which would in turn put those fund into the Literary Fund used to fund public schools in Virginia.

In 2006, Cline passed two bills, HB1130 and HB1131, which changed the administrative setup of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. In 2009, he passed HB2285, which created a searchable database of Virginia's agency expenditures. Additionally, Cline went after the Virginia Lottery in 2009 for the allotment of over $1 million of state funds to use the likeness of Howie Mandel and Donald Trump on lottery tickets.

Interstate 81 is the main branch of the Interstate Highway System in the 24th district. In 2005, Cline patroned HB2554, a bill that created the I-81 Safety Task Force, and HJ709, a resolution that encouraged Congress to develop a multistate I-81 initiative. In 2006, he patroned HB1581, which created the I-81 Intermodal Rail study.

In 2003, Cline won again with 69% of the vote against Independent E.W. Sheffield. In 2005, he won with 62% of the vote against Democrat David Cox. Cline ran unopposed in 2007. In 2009, Cline ran against Amherst native and Democrat Jeff Price and won with 71% of the vote, taking the Lexington City precinct (for the first time since Price's election in 2002) and every precinct in the 24th House of Delegates district. Cline ran unopposed in both 2011 and 2013. In 2015, Cline won 71% of the vote against Democrat Ellen Arthur. In 2017, he won re-election with 72% of the vote against independent candidate John Winfrey.

In 2003, Cline introduced HB2229, which deals with probation for underage alcohol possession. In 2004, he introduced HB1204, which increased penalties for people having multiple offenses pertaining to driving while intoxicated. In 2007, he patroned HB2453, which enhanced penalties for repeated offenders of driving without a license, and HB2459, which increased the penalties for elder abuse. In 2008, he passed HB1362, which established a penalty for the misuse of public assets, and HB1363, which increases penalties for trademark counterfeiting. In 2009, he patroned HB2441, which requires Virginia Department of Corrections to notify prosecutors of gang affiliation of inmates charged with an offense committed while in prison, and HB2637, which requires fingerprinting of individuals arrested for the violation of a protective order.

In 2003, Cline introduced HB2227, which made it a felony to assault retired law enforcement officers, and HB865 in 2010, which imposed the same penalty regarding assault of campus police officers. In 2003, he introduced HB2230 & HB 2232 to help local probation officers and pretrial services officers. In 2005, he introduced HB1514, which allowed sheriffs' offices and volunteer rescue squads to get reimbursed for the costs of responding to DUI crashes. Cline was named Legislator of the Year by the Virginia Court Clerks' Association in 2011 and by the Virginia Sheriff's Association in 2012.

Cline has also introduced several bills regarding the rights of defendants and inmates. In 2003, he introduced HB2231, which gives greater access for probation officers to juvenile defendants' records so that risk assessments could be more easily prepared. He opposed the closure of the Natural Bridge Juvenile Correctional Center in 2009, which was the last remaining facility solely for nonviolent offenders in the Commonwealth of Virginia at the time of its closing. and introduced HB873 in 2010 to require the Department of Juvenile Justice to keep at least one facility open for non-violent juvenile offenders. In 2012, Cline helped negotiate a compromise between law enforcement and prisoner advocates regarding HB836, which restricted the usage of restraints on pregnant inmates, by supporting the intent of the legislation in the form of a rule change by the Virginia Board of Corrections and won praise locally for his involvement on the issue. In 2013, Cline helped craft and supported HB2103, which improves parole process for inmates still eligible for parole in Virginia.

From 2002 to 2007, including his years in law school, Cline was president of NDS Corporation, a Virginia-based company providing sales and marketing assistance to rural Internet and technology businesses.

Cline started his political career in 2002 in an election to the Virginia House of Delegates in a special election, replacing incumbent Delegate Vance Wilkins who resigned the seat due to sexual harassment allegations. Cline won in 2002 with 57% of the vote despite Democratic opposition from former Lexington Mayor Mimi Elrod. With the election victory, Cline represented the 24th district, which consisted of Bath and Rockbridge Counties, the cities of Buena Vista and Lexington, and parts of Amherst and Augusta Counties.

Cline graduated from Lexington High School in 1990, and graduated with a B.A. from Bates College in 1994. He earned a J.D. degree from University of Richmond School of Law in 2007.

Benjamin Lee Cline (born February 29, 1972) is an American politician that has served as the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 6th congressional district since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 24th District in the Virginia House of Delegates for 16 sessions, from 2002 to 2018.

Cline was born Benjamin Lee Cline on February 29, 1972, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and grew up in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He is the son of Philip L. Cline and Julie Cline.