AP: Longest-serving New Jersey lawmaker to retire

"If I can't hold the bat, I'm going home."

VIRGINIA LITTELL, the wife of Senator Robert E. Littell and a savvy observer of New Jersey politics, had one of her patented one-liners ready to explain why her 71-year-old husband, a powerful Republican, had decided not to seek re-election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/11njpol.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Mr. Littell said Tuesday that he would not run next year in what had promised to be a bloody battle against Assemblyman Guy R. Gregg for the hearts and minds of northwestern New Jersey.

“Bob said that he would rather be in a hot tub with me than in a mud bath with Guy Gregg,” said Ms. Littell, a former state Republican chairwoman.

The pending departure of Mr. Littell, who with 40 years in one house or the other is the longest-serving current New Jersey lawmaker, had a wistful feel. His father, Alfred, served in the Legislature, and his daughter is Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose.

The announced departure was a sign of the times as well. Mr. Littell, a genteel dealmaker and skilled negotiator, was stepping down, and stepping up was a combative, conservative representative. This sets the stage for a battle in a district that covers some of the fastest-growing areas of Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon Counties.