Delegate Dickie Bell (R-Stanton) has decided he will not seek re-election. He has represented the consistently Republican 20th district since 2010. The district includes the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro and parts of the Augusta, Highland, and Nelson counties. When Bell ran in 2017 he won with 54.5% if the vote.
Delegate Bell told the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
“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.”
“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.”
More on the story here.