In 2007, some high achieving lawmakers as well as some characters won't be around on Hill

(AP) It's just not going to be the same. When the new Congress convenes next month, a few high achievers and a few lawmakers known more for being characters than for their legislative skills won't be around.

Some left by choice, others rejected by voters in what President Bush called a Democratic "thumping" of his fellow Republicans in November. A few _ such as Florida's Katherine Harris, former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne _ reached for the brass ring of higher office and fell short.

A couple of those most prominent among the missing are Democrats, but most are Republicans.

Whether cherished for their political skills or their entertainment value, they leave a vacuum.

Among them:

_Sen. Bill Frist, the heart transplant surgeon and heir to a hospital fortune who switched to a political career in mid-life and _ in his typical overachiever fashion _ became the Senate's majority leader just eight years later.

Courting religious conservatives for a presidential bid in 2008, he tripped while dealing with the case of severely brain-damaged Terry Schiavo, misdiagnosing her condition using a video tape. Last month he abandoned the race for the White House, deciding to return to Tennessee.

_Rep. Katherine Harris, the former Florida secretary of state who was instrumental in delivering Florida's contested electoral votes and the White House to President Bush in 2000. She coveted Democrat Bill Nelson's seat in the Senate to the consternation of state and national Republican leaders, who couldn't find anyone to challenge her in the primary. Her campaign staffers quit in droves in response to her temper tantrums and she took to the airwaves to say non-Christian officials would "legislate sin." She lost to Nelson, but said we haven't seen the last of her _ she's promised a tell-all book on her doomed campaign.

_Sen. George Allen of Virginia, who lost to Republican-turned Democratic challenger Jim Webb by a fraction of a percentage point. The son of a former Washington Redskins coach, Allen favored cowboy hats and boots and chewing tobacco. He also was on the way to a presidential bid in 2008 _ until he described a Webb staffer of Indian descent as "macaca" _ a reference to a type of monkey _ and the video found its way to the press and onto the Internet.

_Sen. Conrad Burns, a former broadcaster who also courted the cowboy image and whose mouth also kept him in trouble. Over the years, Burns has apologized for remarks offensive to blacks, Arabs and firefighters and denied making remarks offensive to women that two flight attendants attributed to him. Burns was a big victim of the scandal surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Even though returned or gave away the approximately $150,000 he received from Abramoff, his associates and his clients, Burns still lost to Democrat Jon Tester by fewer than 3,000 votes.

_Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, R-Ga., who earlier this month introduced a bill on the last day of the 109th Congress to impeach Bush. A liberal firebrand, McKinney relished her reputation as a rebel. She questioned whether Bush knew in advance about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but kept quiet to allow defense contractors to profit and accused former Vice President Al Gore of having a "low Negro tolerance level." Last March, McKinney entered a Capitol office building unrecognized and refused a police officer's request to stop. When he tried to stop her, she struck him. She apologized, but lost her seat anyway to a Democratic primary challenger.

_Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, another Republican who at one time had his eyes on the White House. His opposition to abortion and gay marriage _ plus his youthful looks and tireless energy _ made him a poster child for conservatives. He penned a 2005 book, "It Takes a Family: Conservatism and Common Good," to counter Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's "It Takes a Village." But his sometimes abrasive style alienated voters in Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania, and they replaced him with an anti-abortion Democrat, Bill Casey.

_Sen. Mark Dayton, a multimillionaire department store heir who spent about $12 million of his own money to win a Senate seat in 2000 but then decided he didn't have enough money to fund a re-election campaign in 2006. A Democrat, Dayton was widely ridiculed for closing his Washington office during the 2004 summer congressional recess, saying a secret intelligence report made him fear for his staff's safety.

_Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the lone Senate Republican to vote against the Iraq war resolution. Chafee, who spent earlier years shoeing horses for a living, essentially inherited the seat from his father. A maverick, he bucked the GOP establishment on several big issues and many Republicans accused him of being a Democrat in actuality. Nonetheless, the party helped him fight off a conservative primary challenger this year in a failed effort to keep his seat _and control of the Senate _ in GOP hands.

_Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., who gave up his House seat to run for governor but lost the Republican primary to sitting Gov. Dave Heineman. Osborne is still best known as the Cornhuskers' head coach, winning three national championships during his last four years there before finding a second career in politics. His supporters _ including 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers _ lobbied voters to write his name in on the ballot after he lost the primary to Heineman. He declined, saying, "You don't change the rules in the middle of the game."

_Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., a cowboy-boot-wearing beef rancher who proved the clout of his biggest adversary, the environmental community. Pombo first ran for Congress in 1991 after becoming disgusted over protections for the endangered San Joaquin kit fox near his Central California hometown. He gave environmentalists fits with his unapologetic advocacy for private property rights as chairman of the House Resources Committee. They got even in November, spending $2 million to help Democratic challengers Jerry McNerney, a little known wind energy expert, pull off a stunning upset.

_Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., a master of policy intricacies disliked and even feared for his testy impatience. Holding one of the most powerful jobs in Washington, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, he never lost the mannerisms of the California college professor he once was, lecturing fellow lawmakers and reporters _ often sarcastically _ about taxes, Medicare, trade policy and Social Security. He once called out the Capitol police to break up a meeting of Democrats on his committee, then expressed regret in tears.

_Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., at 82 ending a 32-year House career in which he was best known for his tireless battles against abortion rights and his leading role in the impeachment of President Clinton, is ending a 32-year House career. He authored legislation prohibiting federal funding of abortions. The U.S. Supreme Court declared the "Hyde amendment" constitutional in 1980.

_Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., a one-time rodeo cowboy whom former Majority Leader Tom DeLay lifted from obscurity by having him fired as chairman of the House ethics committee after the panel issued reports critical of DeLay. Hefley retired rather than seek re-election but continued to be an irritant to GOP leaders, calling the campaign of his Republican successor "sleazy."

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Associated Press Writers Erica Werner, Frederic J. Frommer, Andrew Miga, Kimberly Hefling and Ben Evans contributed to this report.