For nearly two hours Sunday afternoon, retiring members of the Minnesota state Senate delivered sweet farewell speeches.

The big surprise in that ritual was the announcement by Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, that she was pulling the plug after a 10-year career in the Senate. Moua is the first Hmong-American to be elected to such high office.

“I’m the refugee girl who came to Minnesota, got a good education and got elected to the Minnesota Senate,” she said, her voice filled with emotion. “No greater symbol of the American dream than the story all of you [she swept her arm to envelope the entire Senate] helped me write.”

Moua, an attorney, said she is retiring to “dedicate the next 10 years of my life to my family and children.”

Like the others who gave their retirement talks Sunday, Moua spoke of the need for all senators to work together. But she noted she isn’t like the others. She said she constantly has been overwhelmed that the people in her district have sent her to the Senate.

“My life has afforded me the chance to see the best of what Minnesota has to offer,” she said. “People in my district have sent me, someone who looks like me, to represent their interests is wonderful.”

Moua was first elected in 2002 in a special election. Her Hmong counterpart in the Minnesota House, Cy Thao, DFL-St. Paul, also is retiring to devote more time to his business interests in assisted-care housing.

But unlike Moua, Thao was facing potentially stiff opposition in the DFL, if he didn’t step down.

The House is filled with heavyweight Republicans stepping down in order to run for higher office.

Republican Reps. Tom Emmer and Dan Severson are leaving the House to run for governor and secretary of state, respectively. Randy Demmer is leaving as he pursues the U.S. House seat currently held by Tim Walz. Laura Brod is retiring, though most don’t think she will stay away from elective politics in the long term. Paul Kohls, one of the body’s most rock-ribbed conservatives, is retiring after his bid for governor attracted little support. Marty Seifert announced his retirement from the House at the time he was favored to win the GOP gubernatorial endorsement that ended up with Emmer. Reps. Rob Eastland and Doug Magnus also are leaving.

On the DFL side of the House ledger, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, now the DFL’s endorsed gubernatorial candidate, is leaving the House. There were tears in her eyes as she gaveled Sunday’s session to order.

Jeremy Kalin, Larry Haws and Karla Bigham are the other DFL House members calling it quits.

It was in the Senate speeches that the most heartfelt speeches about moderation and teamwork were delivered.

Two of the retiring Republican senators, Steve Dille of Dassel and Dennis Frederickson of New Ulm, gave speeches that showed just how different today’s Republican Party is from the party of the past.

In today’s Republican Party, government regulation is an evil. Both Dille and Frederickson spoke of the good that government - and regulation - has done for all the people in the state.

“Regulation makes us free,” said Dille, who is retiring after 24 years in the Legislature. “Free to drive more safely, free to breathe clean air and have clean water ...’’

Frederickson offered more words on that same theme. He spoke with pride of the environmental bills that he helped pass in other, more moderate, times. His final warning to his colleagues was to watch the frogs. If the frogs are healthy, he told the senators, the water quality is OK. Because of earlier legislation, he said, “Our water is still sky blue.”

Others who are retiring from the Senate are Jim Vickerman, DFL-Tracy, Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud (she, of course, is hopeful of continuing her political career as a member of the U.S. House) and Debbie Johnson, R-Ham Lake and Pat Pariseau, R-Farmington.

After all of that nice talk of the importance of working together, legislators in both chambers got back to the business of pounding on each other.

Doug Grow writes about public affairs, state politics and other topics. He can be reached at dgrow [at] minnpost [dot] com.