Harhai to retire from state House
State Rep. Ted Harhai, D-Monessen, has joined more than a dozen veteran and mostly moderate lawmakers in announcing he will not seek re-election.
Harhai, the current chairman of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, won a special election and was seated in February 1998 and held the seat since.
He said the rise of bruising partisanship in Harrisburg and resultant paralysis was one of the factors in his decision to retire.
“In the last several years, there’s been little compromise, cooperation and collaboration. It’s become extremely frustrating,” Harhai said in a release. “It’s just become harder to reach any consensus, as proven by the current, protracted budget debate.
“I weighed this decision carefully before concluding that it was time to script the end of this chapter in my public service life. It’s time.”