Sharpe Leaving Senate

Sidelined since major surgery last year, Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Sharpe is retiring after 44 years in the Legislature, Senate officials announced.

First elected to the Senate in 1960, but with a gap in service during the early 1980s , the Lewis County Democrat "has more years of service than any other sitting senator, officials told The Associated Press.

The 79-year-old underwent risky surgery to remove a brain aneurysm in 2007. He also lost both his wife, Pauline, and his brother Thomas in 2005.

Sharpe is the seventh incumbent senator, and the fourth Democrat, who definitely won't be returning to that chamber in 2009. Like the others, he is up for re-election this year.

Public Broadcasting recently examined the potential turnover in the Senate, where half the 34 seats are on the 2008 ballot.