THOMASON EXPECTS TO RESIGN SEAT

Bootheel lawmaker Larry Thomason said he expects to resign as state representative for the 163rd District this fall to take another job.

The Kennett Democrat refused to disclose the job and wouldn't say if it was in the public or private sector.

But House colleagues said the job reportedly is in state government.

Thomason said the job was too good to pass up.

He said he has to think about paying for his daughter's college education. His daughter is a junior in high school.

Term limits also played into his decision, he said Tuesday.

"I am staring term limits in the face," said Thomason.

Term limits take effect in 2002 for many veteran lawmakers in the House and Senate.

Thomason said he has had other job offers, but this one he couldn't turn down.

Thomason, who has been in the Legislature for 10 years, doesn't like the new term limits approved by voters.

He said it takes years for state lawmakers to learn the ropes. "I am to the point where I know how things are done."

Although the legislative session lasts only five months, the job of lawmaker is a full-time one, he said.

"There is nothing part-time about it," said Thomason. "My family, more or less, has had to sacrifice so I can do this."

Thomason still operates a real-estate appraisal business. He said he has used some of the revenue from that business to help maintain his legislative office in Kennett.

The Bootheel city is a long way from the state capital. Thomason has plenty of mileage to show for his years in office.

He won't miss the 640-mile round trips he makes each week during the legislative session and at other times during the year.

"It is about five hours one way," he said.

Thomason said he has the longest drive to Jefferson City of any lawmaker.

Thomason, who earlier this year filed for re-election, plans to withdraw his candidacy Friday.

The action will reopen filing in both parties for five days, beginning Monday.

"I didn't think it was fair to withdraw later on," Thomason said from his state capitol office Tuesday.

"Hopefully, this time frame will give anyone interested in running for my seat plenty of time to make a decision," he said.

Republican Judy Wallace of Malden previously filed for the seat.

Dunklin County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Phillip Britt is expected to file as a Democratic candidate.

Thomason and Britt are friends.

Thomason said he has made a lot of friends in his years in the Legislature.

"The people who I consider my friends up here are the people who have integrity," he said.

Thomason said the job also has put him in touch with Bootheel residents in his district.

Thomason doesn't come from a farming background. But during his decade in office, he has championed agricultural bills.

"I have really enjoyed doing the agricultural legislation for the Bootheel," he said.

A staunch Democrat, Thomason is critical of the Missouri Republican Party.

"They have become an antagonistic party, governed more or less by people who don't think it matters how you win as long as you win," he said.