Republican state Del. Richard P. “Dickie” Bell of Staunton announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2019.

Bell, a retired teacher and former Staunton City Councilman who has served in the House of Delegates since 2010, said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family after almost a decade in state politics.

“Let me assure you that I am fine. I am not ill or sick, in fact I’m very healthy, but the clock is still ticking and no day is promised,” Bell said in a news release. “We are expecting our first grandchild in January and that most certainly is part of the decision. I am not sad that my public service is coming to an end, but rather I am very grateful that the opportunity ever came along in the first place.”

Bell’s consistently Republican district includes the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro and parts of the Augusta, Highland and Nelson counties.

When he was re-elected in 2017, Bell won 54.5 percent of the vote.

All 140 seats in the General Assembly are up for election next year. House Republicans, who have a one-seat majority after losing 15 seats to Democrats in 2017, will be fighting to keep their majority.

In his farewell note, Bell said he’s never had a “fondness for politics” and is saddened by partisan divides and “today’s political climate.”

“As Thomas Jefferson remarked upon his retreat from the public life, ‘I will leave with my hands as clean as they are empty,’” Bell said. “It is a true blessing to be able to leave on your own terms, and that too is part of my decision.”