FACTBOX: Prominent retirees of Congress

(Reuters) - When the 111th Congress convenes on January 3, 2009, some well known lawmakers will not be taking the oath of office.

Most are Republicans, who saw some of their power vanish in the 2006 congressional elections that gave Democrats majority control of Congress. With Republican election prospects again bleak this year, a large number decided against running.

Twenty-eight Republicans in the House and five in the Senate decided to either retire or seek other public office this year, versus six Democrats in the House and none in the Senate.

The following is a list of prominent Senate and House of Representatives members who are retiring:

* John Warner, 81, the Virginia Republican who is divorced from Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor. This courtly, five-term senator and former U.S. Navy secretary, made his biggest mark in Congress as a respected expert on military and security affairs.

* Pete Domenici, 76, a six-term Republican from New Mexico, focused mainly on budget and energy issues during his Senate career and is the former chairman of the committees that oversee those issues. Earlier this year, the Senate ethics panel criticized Domenici for contacting a federal prosecutor who said the senator was trying to pressure him about an ongoing investigation.

* Chuck Hagel, 62, served two 6-year terms as a Republican senator from Nebraska. A Vietnam War veteran, Hagel concentrated on foreign policy and flirted last year with running for president. He has been mentioned as a possible defense secretary if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president.

* Larry Craig, 63, the Idaho Republican who grabbed headlines in 2007 after it was reported he had pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct stemming from an incident in an airport restroom. The three-term senator denied that he is a homosexual and said he entered his plea to make the incident "go away."

* Ray LaHood, a 62-year-old Republican member of the House of Representatives from Illinois, sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which doles out federal money for projects ranging from the war in Iraq to local roadbuilding. A former school teacher, the centrist LaHood was a favorite of Washington journalists because of his accessibility and blunt talk.

* Deborah Pryce, 57, of Ohio saw her political fortunes fall in the 2006 elections, when she narrowly won an eighth term. Her lackluster showing led her to resign from a House Republican leadership post and to later announce her retirement. A single mother, Pryce said she wanted to spend more time with her daughter. She was an active supporter of President George W. Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security.

* Tom Tancredo, 62, a five-term conservative Republican from Colorado, was one of the most outspoken House opponents of liberalizing U.S. immigration laws.

* Duncan Hunter, 60, a Republican and former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, represented his southern California district for 28 years. He was an ardent supporter of increased defense spending and played a key role in writing the bill establishing a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

(Source: Reuters, The Almanac of American Politics)

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, editing by David Alexander and Cynthia Osterman)