On Tuesday (Jan. 15), the 60-day legislative session begins but it will start without some familiar faces — most notably, .

The Democrat and state senator from Roswell has been a fixture in Santa Fe for 34 years and has been the Senate Pro Tem since 2008. But he last November and on Monday, Jennings chaired his final meeting at the Roundhouse.

At the end of the meeting, Senate Majority Leader (D-Belen) presented Jennings with a proclamation honoring Jennings’ time in the legislature and Senate Minority Leader (R-Portales) — who has served in the Senate for 28 years — got choked up before handing over a gift to Jennings.

“You’re what the Senate is all about,” Sen. Ingle said after receiving a hug from Jennings.

“It’s probably the greatest honor I’ve ever had,” Jennings said of his time in the Roundhouse.

Jennings was known for his dry sense of humor and sometimes rambling speeches. “People put with me ,” he said. “I be can a little repetitious.”

And of his defeat in November, Jennings said, “Government, it’s not about hate … It’s absurd. Both sides do it. There were so many half-truths about someone’s record, twisting it. That’s not right.”

We talked to Jennings after the meeting adjourned about what he’ll miss the most:

 

Another colorful legislator who attended his last Roundhouse session was Rep. (I-Hatch), the only Independent in the statehouse, who lost his re-election bid in a three-way race in the Las Cruces-Hatch area last November after 12 years in the House of Representatives.

The plain-speaking Nuñez — a sort of Hispanic Ben Cartwright — was in the middle of so many big legislative stories in the past three years, ranging from leading a failed to fighting an the state law granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

We talked to Nuñez too:

 

The new, 60-day session begins at noon Tuesday.

Buckle up.