HARRISBURG -- Two years ago, with voters angry over the legislative pay raise of July 2005, longtime lawmakers were fleeing the Capitol as if it were on fire.

Altogether, 31 incumbents from the House and Senate decided to retire rather than face the voters for re-election, even though the pay raise had been repealed in November 2005. Those voluntary departures were followed, in the 2006 primary and general elections, with the defeats of 24 more incumbents, ushering in 55 new legislators in January, the largest freshman class in years.

But the voters' ire over the raise seems to have cooled as time has gone by, and the parade of retirees to the Capitol exits has slowed considerably.

The full number of retirees won't be known until February, when legislators have to file their re-election papers, but so far only 10 House members and three senators have announced they're moving on.

Eight House members, including Reps. Tom Tangretti, D-Hempfield, Tom Yewcic, D-Cambria, and Edward Wojnaroski, D-Cambria, are retiring from politics. Two others, Reps. Steven Cappelli, R-Lycoming, and Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, are vacating their House seats in order to run for vacant Senate seats.

Mr. Cappelli wants the seat now held by retiring Sen. Roger Madigan, R-Bradford. Mr. Leach is also running for the Senate, seeking to replace Sen. Connie Williams, D-Montgomery, who is also retiring. The third Senate retiree is Sen. Gibson Armstrong, R-Lancaster.

The other House retirees, so far, include Jerry Nailor, R-Cumberland; Carole Rubley, R-Chester; David Steil, R-Bucks; Steve Nickol, R-York; and Art Hershey, R-Chester.

Unlike the pay raise issue in 2006, there doesn't seem to be one over-arching reason for the 2008 retirements, other than leaving a stress-filled job where the public has you under the microscope in favor of an easier life back home.

"Two hundred pounds came off my shoulders when I decided to retire," said Mr. Wojnaroski, who lives in Johnstown. He's 68 and still in good health. He wants to travel with his wife and "spend quality time" with his grandchildren.

He figures that after 12 years in the Legislature, which followed 26 years of working for the city of Johnstown, plus additional service on the local school board, he's earned a rest.

He sees "a new direction coming in the Legislature with the reform group," a group of younger legislators elected in 2006. He said he's not opposed to change because "after all, change is inevitable. But I'm entering the last chapter of my life and I just thought it was time for me to go."

Mr. Tangretti was heavily involved in efforts to fight the 2005 pay raise. He voted against it that July and worked to have it repealed that November.

In announcing his retirement in October, he said it had been "a tremendous honor" to serve 20 years in the General Assembly, even though "at times, democracy isn't pretty." He got a taste of how ugly it can be in January, when he lost badly in a challenge to House Democratic leader Bill DeWeese of Waynesburg.

Mr. Tangretti said the "debacle" over the pay raise was the most disappointing event of his time in office. "The pay raise lowered many Pennsylvanians' respect for the Legislature and shredded its dignity and credibility," he said.

G. Terry Madonna, a professor and pollster at Franklin & Marshall College, said he originally thought there would be about 25 legislative retirements this year, but now "it doesn't look like we will reach that."

There certainly won't be anything like the 31 incumbents who left in 2006 "because [anger over] the pay raise situation has eroded considerably," he said. "A lot of voters aren't happy with the General Assembly, but the same kind of zeal to chuck out incumbents doesn't exist as it did in 2006. It's dissipated."

A lot of legislators who retired in 2006 were tired of "going to community events and having constituents tell them they were doing a horrendous, self-serving job," Mr. Madonna said. "Legislators are like anybody else, they want to be loved and told they're doing a good job."

The departures of up to 10 House members could affect which party runs the chamber, which is now narrowly controlled by Democrats, 102-101. Five of the legislators who are retiring are Republican and three are Democratic.

Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, a House Democratic election team member, said he hopes to capture the GOP seats in southeastern Pennsylvania that are now held by Reps. Rubley, Steil and Hershey.