People & politics.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS - Norma Anderson, Bruce Larkin, Charlene Bottorff, Larry Lutz and Armando Martinez's elections

Senator Norma Anderson, a respected Colorado lawmaker who created the state Department of Transportation and wrote the school finance act, shocked colleagues when she resigned one week before the start of her 20th and final year in the legislature. Anderson gained a reputation as a formidable intellect invaluable to both parties in the legislature who knew the rules better than anyone. She was the last remaining lawmaker to serve in leadership before term limits took effect 1998. And she was the first woman to serve as majority leader in both chambers--at one point the only woman in the 18member Senate. "We think one to 17 is a fair fight," once joked former Senator Ken Chlouber. Anderson said she began thinking about leaving this summer when she attended a class reunion and discovered half her schoolmates were dead. "I thought, "I need to get going. I've got a great grandchild I've only seen once," said the 73-year-old Anderson. A vacancy committee will choose her successor. Said Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, "She won't be replaced by anyone of her caliber."

Veteran Kansas lawmaker Bruce Larkin retired in January after serving 20 years in the House. Larkin, first elected in 1986, was the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on School Finance, which worked to increase court-ordered school funding. He also helped draft the state's school finance formula in 1992. Larkin said he wants to pursue other public service opportunities. The governor must approve a replacement, who will be nominated by Democrats in his district.

The widow of an Indiana lawmaker will fill her late husband's House seat in the Legislature after being unanimously elected by precinct committee members. Charlene...