The Minnesota Senate honored retiring members before ending the 2002 session. Thirteen legislators are leaving the Senate, including some of its most senior members. The House said goodbye to 24 members before adjourning. Some of the retiring lawmakers say the Legislature has become more partisan over the years, and it's becoming harder for a moderate to get elected.

	REP. DAVE BISHOP Listen to an extended interview.

The latest retirement announcement came from 25-year veteran Sen. Bob Lessard, who announced Wednesday he will leave the Senate along with 12 of his colleagues. Lessard is the sole lawmaker in Gov. Ventura's Independence Party.

Lessard was a Democrat for most of his 26 years in the Legislature. As he put it, "I just felt that the fire wasn't in the belly."

Northern Minnesota has been hit especially hard by the retirements. The region also is losing Sen. Doug Johnson of Tower and Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine.

On Monday, the Senate honored six Democrats and six Republicans who are either retiring, pursuing other careers or seeking higher office. But most of the attention was reserved for the man who has led the Senate longer than any other majority leader in state history.

Roger Moe was first elected 32 years ago. He described himself as a regular, ordinary guy, and confessed that he had never been to the state Capitol before he was elected.

	SEN. ROGER MOE Listen to his retirement speech to the Senate.

"I was always worried that somebody would ask me that during that campaign, but fortunately, nobody did. I showed up here in - I think it was December of 1970 - when we had the orientation for the new members, and I'll never forget what it was like to come into this building. And you know, it still feels the same way today, it really does," Moe told his colleagues.

Moe noted the Senate was an all-male body when he was first elected. The state's first woman senator, Nancy Brataas, was among dozens of former colleagues who crowded the chamber to honor Moe, who is running for governor. Absent were 15 Republican senators, including Minority Leader Dick Day, who asked members to boycott the festivities because of resentment over a partisan dispute in the final hours of the session.

The Senate also honored longtime member Doug Johnson. The Finance Committee chairman from Tower - affectionately called Dougie by nearly everyone around the Capitol - talked about the spirit of bipartisanship.

"I remember coming into the Legislature 32 years ago as a flaming liberal partisan Democrat, and I moved more to the middle. I came to the conclusion that the best way you can pass a bill, is a Republican's vote counts just as much as a Democrat's vote. And you better learn to get along," Johnson said.

	SEN. HENRY KALIS Listen to an extended interview.

Some retiring lawmakers say that's a quality that's becoming harder to find at the Capitol. Rep. Dave Bishop, R-Rochester, is stepping down after 20 years in office. Bishop has a reputation as a lawmaker who worked well with members on both sides of the aisle. He says during his legislative career, he passed more than 200 bills, most of them while Republicans were in the minority.

"I think it's too bad that we don't have a lot more crossing the aisle and working together; it works better that way," Bishop said.

Bishop points out that several moderate Republicans lost party endorsement to more conservative candidates this year, including state Senators Sheila Kiscaden and Martha Robertson and state Representative Dan McElroy.

Bishop has also found himself at odds with most of his caucus on the issue of abortion. He's one of several Republicans who support legalized abortion who are leaving this year.

"We are feeling endangered ... the party's been taken over on a single issue, and it's too bad, but maybe they have to learn their lesson by being knocked into the minority," Bishop said.

	REP. HARRY MARES Listen to an extended interview.

Another retiring Republican, Rep. Harry Mares of White Bear Lake, says both parties can be faulted for making it difficult for moderates. Mares says he's always been an independent thinker. The last bill he pushed through the Legislature was the stadium bill. He says the Republican party has swung too far to the right, and the DFL is too far to the left.

"What happens when you go too far right, and or too far left, you tend to think that the only way you look at an issue is the right way. That it's my way or no way at all," Mares said.

Mares is leaving after eight years at the Capitol. He says if eight years is the term limit for the president, it's good enough for him. Mares is one of nine Republicans and 14 Democrats in the House who aren't seeking re-election (See list).

Some plan to run for the Senate or higher office, some are leaving politics and others were drawn out of their districts in a new court plan. The number of retirements is slightly higher than 10 years ago, the last time lawmakers had to run in new districts. Then 21 House members and 12 senators decided not to run again.